In English, when an object resembles a colour, we just add an -ish to it. For example, a reddish car, a yellowish shirt... But in Spanish it's not that straightforward. So I decided to collect the most important ones in a single post:
1. rojizo
- El cielo al atardecer tenía un tono rojizo muy bonito. - The sky at sunset had a very pretty reddish tone.
2. anaranjado
- Su camisa tenía sutiles rayas anaranjadas a lo largo de la tela. - His shirt had subtle orangish stripes running down the fabric.
3. amarillento
- Las hojas de los árboles ya se están poniendo amarillentas. - The leaves on the trees are already turning yellowish.
4. verdoso
- El agua de la piscina tenía un color verdoso por las algas. - The pool water had a greenish colour because of the algae.
5. azulado
- Sus ojos tenían un brillo azulado bajo la luz de la luna. - Her eyes had a bluish glow under the moonlight.
6. violáceo vs amoratado
- Las orquídeas tienen flores de un tono violáceo. - The orchids have flowers of a purplish tone.
- Se golpeó el dedo con la puerta y se le puso amoratado. - He hit his finger on the door and it turned purplish (bruised).
We also need to contrast:
7. blancuzco vs blanquecino
- La pared vieja tenía un color blancuzco. - The old wall had a dirty, whitish colour. (blancuzco – negative tone)
- El ave tenía unas plumas blanquecinas en el pecho. - The bird had whitish feathers on its chest. (blanquecino – neutral)
And some other honourable mentions: grisáceo (greyish), negruzco (blackish), amarronado (brownish), rosáceo (pinkish).
Extra: In-between tones
- El atardecer era naranja tirando a rojo. - The sunset was orange leaning towards red.
- Sus ojos eran grises tirando a azul. - His eyes were gray leaning towards blue.
I know there are many more, but I had to stop somewhere. :D Do you find this kind of posts useful? Should I keep them coming?