olive brown
- noun
- /ˈɑlɪv braʊn/
- The bird's feathers blended in with the olive brown leaves on the forest floor.
Examples
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The walls were painted in a rich olive brown.
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The walls of the living room were painted a soft olive brown that made the space feel cozy.
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She wore a jacket in olive brown, which complemented her green scarf perfectly.
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She chose an olive brown dress for the occasion.
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The walls of the room were painted a warm olive brown that complemented the wooden furniture.
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She chose an olive brown dress for the autumn wedding, perfectly matching the seasonal colors.
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The artist mixed different shades of paint to create an olive brown that resembled the color of ripe olives.
Synonyms
Having a medium to dark color like wood or tanned skin
A brown color with a little green like a frog's skin
A dull green-brown color often used for military clothes and gear
A brown color with a greenish tinge like green olives
How Greenish
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a brown with a slight greenish tinge' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'olive' (a yellow‑green colour) with 'brown' (an earthy/dark colour). This modifier+noun color-combination is a straightforward compositional pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The color name olive brown comes from the look of olive mixed with brown. Think of brown with a little green like an olive, so it means 'a shade of brown with a little green'.