beige

Etymology

Borrowed from French (dialectal) beige, from Old French bege (“color of undyed wool or cotton”), from an Alpine language (compare Franco-Provençal bézho, Romansch besch (“dull grey”)), from Vulgar Latin *bysseus (“cottony grey”) (compare French bis, Catalan bis, Italian bigio), from Late Latin byssus (“cotton”), from Ancient Greek βύσσος (bússos, “cotton homespun”), from Semitic (compare Hebrew/Aramaic בוץ (būṣ)). Doublet of bice.

noun

1. A slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool.
   beige:
2. Debeige; a kind of woollen or mixed dress goods.

adj

1. Having a slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool.
   Dagobert had only one customer, an American who wore square, rimless glasses and a beige suit and looked like a Wall Street tycoon. 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 24, in Crime out of Mind
   Mr. Lauwaert of Sony said he realized that most consumers were not going to buy computers that cost far more than discount beige boxes. 2006-11-23, Michel Marriott, “When Beige Won’t Do”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
2. (informal, originally US) Comfortably dull and unadventurous, in a way that suggests middle-class suburbia.
   Think about it: he grew up in Iowa, the beigest of states, was doted on, loved generously by his parents, the top of his class, probably voted Most Handsome of 2000. 2007, Prairie L. Markussen, Cover, page 48
   In the beigest parts of suburbia where I grew up, bridge was a game played by groups of parents in recreation rooms furnished with upright pianos and souvenir sombreros. 2010, Gerald J. McCarthy, A Man of Substances
   For a meal of relentlessly beige food, may I suggest the beigest of wines? That would be chardonnay, which will go beautifully with Melissa Clark’s chicken potpie. 2013-03-25, Eric Asimov, “A Beige Wine for a Beige Meal”, in NYT Diner’s Journal Blog
   He has no criminal record. He has no traffic tickets. His social media posts are just like... he's beige. 2016, Penelope Garcia, “The Witness”, in Criminal Minds, season 11, episode 2