Everyday and fun · hangman category
Colors Hangman Words
Color names from red to chartreuse as hangman words, easy to hard. Play online with this list or print a sheet with an answer key for art class or home.
Read the word list
Every word in this list is a color, from the primary ones to shades that need a careful look at the paint chart. Red, blue and pink are quick enough for a kindergarten round. Crimson, scarlet, maroon and magenta ask more of second and third graders. Turquoise, chartreuse, periwinkle and fuchsia are long, tricky and fun for older players who think they know their colors.
The mix matters because a list of only basic colors runs out of challenge almost at once. A color like gray has a common alternate spelling in British English, so we use the American gray throughout. Words such as indigo, saffron, amber and sepia come from dyes, plants or materials, which opens a nice conversation about where color names come from. Phrases like sky blue and hot pink are friendly and help set the length of the answer.
69 entries. Our solver needed 3.7 wrong guesses on average: 15 easy, 31 medium and 23 hard. The toughest is ruby (11 misses), the quickest teal (0).
- red Hard · 6
- blue Hard · 5
- green Medium · 3
- yellow Medium · 4
- orange Easy · 1
- purple Hard · 6
- pink Hard · 9
- brown Hard · 7
- black Hard · 5
- white Medium · 4
- gray Hard · 5
- tan Medium · 3
- jade Hard · 10
- aqua Medium · 4
- cyan Hard · 8
- teal Easy · 0
- navy Medium · 4
- lime Medium · 4
- mint Hard · 7
- rust Medium · 4
- gold Hard · 10
- silver Hard · 5
- bronze Medium · 3
- copper Hard · 5
- ruby Hard · 11
- amber Medium · 4
- ivory Medium · 4
- cream Medium · 4
- beige Hard · 5
- peach Hard · 5
- coral Medium · 2
- olive Easy · 1
- azure Hard · 5
- cobalt Hard · 5
- violet Medium · 4
- indigo Medium · 2
- lilac Medium · 2
- lavender Easy · 0
- mauve Hard · 6
- maroon Medium · 2
- crimson Medium · 2
- scarlet Easy · 0
- magenta Easy · 0
- fuchsia Easy · 1
- emerald Easy · 1
- sapphire Easy · 1
- burgundy Medium · 4
- saffron Medium · 2
- sepia Easy · 0
- khaki Hard · 6
- charcoal Medium · 2
- ebony Easy · 1
- tangerine Easy · 0
- turquoise Easy · 1
- chartreuse Easy · 1
- periwinkle Easy · 1
- mustard Medium · 4
- sky blue Hard · 5
- forest green Medium · 2
- royal blue Medium · 2
- hot pink Hard · 8
- lemon yellow Medium · 2
- navy blue Medium · 4
- light green Medium · 3
- dark red Medium · 3
- burnt orange Medium · 2
- sea green Medium · 2
- rose gold Hard · 7
- midnight blue Medium · 4
Words worth a closer look
- turquoiseFrom the French for Turkish, because the stone first reached Europe through Turkey. Qu and oi make the spelling a hurdle.
- indigoThe word goes back to a Greek term meaning from India, the source of the dye. The i appears twice among six letters, so it is easy to start.
- chartreuseA bright yellow green, spelled the French way. The ch sounds like sh, which tends to throw off players guessing by sound.
- orangeThe fruit had the name before the color did; the color word came from the fruit in English. Six letters, with three vowels, so it falls quickly.
- fuchsiaPronounced like few-sha, and spelled with a ch that surprises most writers. The word comes from a plant, which itself was named for a German botanist, Leonhart Fuchs.
- grayThe American spelling; British English often uses grey. A short word, with the y as a slightly unusual end letter.
- magentaA purplish red often used in printing. Seven letters with an a at each end, so a player who guesses a first gets two spaces at once.
- scarletA bright red. Seven letters, with only two vowels, so consonants such as s, c, r and l matter most.
Using this list in class
Color words suit early elementary, kindergarten through second grade, when children are learning to read and to spell. Put the answers on cards afterward and ask students to find something in the room in that color. For a visual twist, solve the word and then let students color a swatch with crayons in the right shade.
Art teachers can use the harder entries, such as chartreuse, periwinkle and turquoise, to start a talk about how colors get their names from plants, stones, dyes and metals. Older students can sort the list into warm and cool colors, or into names that are also objects like coral, amber, jade and ruby.
Print a Colors Hangman worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- Art Hangman WordsArt hangman words covering materials, techniques, the elements of art and principles of design, for art teachers and families to play or print.
- Clothing Hangman WordsClothes, fabrics and sewing words for hangman, from socks to corduroy. Play online with this list or print a sheet with an answer key for class or home.
- Family Hangman WordsFamily members and home words for hangman, from mom to great grandmother. Play online with this list or print a sheet with an answer key for class or home.
- Spring Hangman WordsSpring hangman words on flowers, rain, growing things and baby animals, with phrases and teaching notes. Play online or print with an answer key.
- Fruits and Vegetables Hangman WordsFruit and vegetable hangman words from pea and kiwi to cauliflower and pomegranate. Play online or print a sheet with an answer key.
- Sports Hangman WordsSports hangman words from soccer and tennis to gymnastics and triathlon, with phrases like slam dunk. Play online or print with an answer key.