“Discolored” or “Discoloured”—What's the difference?

Usage by country

Where each spelling is used

Of the 12 countries below, 5 prefer “discolored” and 5 prefer “discoloured”. Usage levels are out of 100; the more common spelling in each country is in bold.

Usage level out of 100 (if available).
Country	discolored	discoloured	Preference
United States	99	1	“discolored”
United Kingdom	19	81	“discoloured”
India	51	49	“discolored”
Philippines	92	8	“discolored”
Canada	55	45	“discolored”
Australia	24	76	“discoloured”
Liberia	0	0	Not enough data
Ireland	26	74	“discoloured”
New Zealand	27	73	“discoloured”
Jamaica	65	35	“discolored”
Trinidad & Tobago	49	51	“discoloured”
Guyana	0	0	Not enough data

Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“discolored”

…completely or back to just discolored stumps.
…after severe blistering, scarring and discolored skin remain.
He also discolored the floors and walls of…
…use indicated an area of "discolored water", an indication of the…
Glasser has discolored patches on his glans due…
…recently been conserved; layers of discolored, non-original linseed oil were removed…
Patients may also show deformed, discolored teeth or gum and eye
…was unsuccessful, and Misawa's body discolored as EMTs attempted to revive…
…which has become damaged and discolored, reflects the viewers on the…
…Peak was named for its discolored snow banks due to rapid…

“discoloured”

…pigments for most enamel colours discoloured at the high temperatures required…
…that the painting is "somewhat discoloured."
…the crossed mines is always discoloured into pale green or yellowish-green.
Discoloured or wall eyes (pale blue…
The wall has become discoloured from pollution and has not…
…takes its name from a discoloured human skull on the living…
…the full-depth type within the discoloured area of the leaf.
…mine is seen on the discoloured apical area of the leaf.
…if so they may produce discoloured, small papules.
…a major pollution plume that discoloured the estuary and deposited high…

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license.

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