“Colored” or “Coloured”

Language

Colored and coloured are both English terms.

Usage

Colored is predominantly used in 🇺🇸 American (US) English (en-US) while coloured is predominantly used in 🇬🇧 British English (used in UK/AU/NZ) (en-GB).

In terms of actual appearance and usage, here's a breakdown by country, with usage level out of 100 (if available) 👇:

Term	US	UK	India	Philippines	Canada	Australia	Liberia	Ireland	New Zealand	Jamaica	Trinidad & Tobago	Guyana
colored	98	12	33	97	54	15	0	16	18	50	49	51
coloured	2	88	67	3	46	85	0	84	82	50	51	49

• In the United States, there is a preference for "colored" over "coloured" (98 to 2).
• In the United Kingdom, there is a 88 to 12 preference for "coloured" over "colored".
• In India, there is a 67 to 33 preference for "coloured" over "colored".
• In the Philippines, there is a preference for "colored" over "coloured" (97 to 3).
• In Canada, there is a preference for "colored" over "coloured" (54 to 46).
• In Australia, there is a 85 to 15 preference for "coloured" over "colored".
• In Liberia, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "colored" and "coloured".
• In Ireland, there is a 84 to 16 preference for "coloured" over "colored".
• In New Zealand, there is a 82 to 18 preference for "coloured" over "colored".
• In Jamaica, there is no clear preference between "colored" and "coloured", with usage levels of 50 vs. 50.
• In Trinidad & Tobago, there is a 51 to 49 preference for "coloured" over "colored".
• In Guyana, there is a preference for "colored" over "coloured" (51 to 49).

Examples

Below, we provide some examples of when to use colored or coloured with sample sentences.

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