colour-blind

IPA/ˈkʌlə blaɪnd/
IPA/ˈkʌlər blaɪnd/

colour-blind — adjective

1. Unable to tell some colours apart, most often red from green.

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

Unable to tell some colours apart, most often red from green.

Example

Aoi is colour-blind and often mixes up red and green socks.

collocation: mixes up red and green

The museum added symbols because some visitors are colour-blind.

pattern: be + colour-blind

Common collocations
  • colour-blind child
  • colour-blind driver
  • colour-blind student
  • colour-blind viewer
Synonyms
  • color-blind

    American spelling of the same adjective.

  • colour-deficient

    More technical and less common; often used in medical or design contexts.

Grammar Patterns

be + colour-blind

colour-blind + noun

Usage Note

Usually describes a person, their vision, or an activity affected by colour vision. Unlike sense 2 (NOT RACE-BASED), this meaning is about seeing colour differences, not social fairness.

Common Mistakes

My grandfather has colour-blind.
My grandfather is colour-blind.
Use the adjective after 'be', not after 'have'.
I am colour blindness, so these cables look the same.
I am colour-blind, so these cables look the same.
'Colour blindness' is the noun; 'colour-blind' is the adjective.

2. Making choices about people without letting race affect the decision.

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

Making choices about people without letting race affect the decision.

Example

Padma wants a colour-blind admissions system that judges grades, not skin colour.

pattern: colour-blind + admissions system

Christopher argued that housing policies should be colour-blind for every family.

Common collocations
  • colour-blind admissions
  • colour-blind hiring
  • colour-blind policy
  • colour-blind rule
Synonyms
  • race-neutral

    More technical and often used for policies, rules, or legal arguments.

  • unbiased

    Broader term for fairness; it does not specifically focus on racial treatment.

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

be + colour-blind

colour-blind + policy/system/process

Usage Note

Usually describes policies, admissions, hiring, or other formal decisions rather than a person's feelings. Unlike sense 1 (CANNOT TELL COLOURS), it is a figurative use about racial treatment.

Common Mistakes

The firm is colour-blind, so nobody notices the wall paint.
The firm says its hiring process is colour-blind.
Here the word describes fair treatment across racial groups, not literal seeing.
Our principal is colour-blind to messy homework.
Our principal tries to stay colour-blind when choosing student leaders.
This sense is about race-based decisions, not ignoring unrelated problems.

Word family

  • colour blindness
    nounB2
  • blind
    adjectiveA2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/2

All four terms can suggest fairness, but they point to different ideas. 'Colour-blind' stresses that race should not influence a decision, so it is common in discussions of hiring, admissions, or public policy. 'Race-neutral' is close in meaning, but it sounds more technical and legal. 'Unbiased' is broader: someone can be unbiased about age, accent, or class as well as race. 'Inclusive' points in a different direction because it highlights active welcome and representation, not simply ignoring race. A rule may be colour-blind without doing much to make a group feel included. If the main point is that race should not affect the judgment, 'colour-blind' or 'race-neutral' is usually the best fit.

colour-blind ↗race-neutralunbiased ↗inclusive ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • be colour-blind
  • stay colour-blind

Etymology

English

Built in English from 'colour' and 'blind'. It first described a person who cannot distinguish certain colours clearly, and later developed a figurative use for decisions that do not take race into account.