粉紅色 / 粉红色
In Cantonese, pink is said as 粉紅色 / 粉红色. If unsure, use 粉紅色 / 粉红色. Wiktionary also lists 粉色 (fan² sik¹).
Meaning: colored/coloured between red and white (adj)
Ways to say it
| Cantonese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 粉紅色 / 粉红色 | |
| 粉色 | fan² sik¹ |
The term refers to the color between red and white. It can function as an adjective or as a noun meaning the pale red color itself.
What does it mean word for word?
The term 粉紅色 / 粉红色 is composed of 粉 (fan2) meaning powder or flour, 紅 (hung4) meaning red and 色 (sik1) meaning color.
Which one should you use?
粉紅色 / 粉红色 is the default full form, while 粉色 (fan² sik¹) is a shorter version of the word.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Guangzhou region, one may use the phrase 淡紅色 to mean light pink.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
When using pink as an adjective to modify a noun, you often add 的 (dik1) after the color, such as in the phrase 粉紅色的衫 (pink shirt).
Did you know?
- The character 粉 can also mean 'flour' or 'starch', meaning the word for pink literally shares a root with baking ingredients.
- While 'pink' is a specific color in English, the character 粉 (powder) is also used in Cantonese to describe any color that is pale or pastel, such as 'powder blue'.
- The character 粉 in 粉紅色 is the same word used for face powder and cosmetics in traditional Cantonese contexts.
Examples in context
- 佢今日著咗一件粉紅色嘅衫。She is wearing a pink shirt today.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “pink” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
