Auburn Meaning
/ˈɔ.bɚn/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA dark reddish-brown colour, often used to describe hair colour.
adjOf a reddish-brown colour.
Sentence Examples
Jane has auburn hair.
I love your partially-grayed auburn hair.
She's got beautiful long auburn hair.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her long ____ hair shimmered with reddish-brown highlights in the sunlight.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She had beautiful ____ hair that glowed in the light of the sun.
Word Origin & History
Early Modern English auburn (“brown, reddish brown”) from Middle English aubourne, abron, abroune, abrune (“light brown, yellowish brown, blond”), alteration (due to conflation with Middle English brun (“brown”)) of earlier auborne (“yellowish-white, flaxen”) from Old French auborne, alborne (“blond, flaxen, off-white”) from Medieval Latin alburnus (“whitish”), from Latin albus (“white”). More at albino, brown.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"All were watching somebody in the garden with deep interest, their three faces close together: a jovial and round one, a pale one with dark hair, and a fair one whose tresses were auburn. “Don’t push! You can see as well as I,” said Retty, the auburn-haired and youngest girl, without removing her eyes from the window."
— 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter XXI, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC:
"[…]; nor was Miss Wilkinson the ideal: he had often pictured to himself the great violet eyes and the alabaster skin of some lovely girl, and he had thought of himself burying his face in the rippling masses of her auburn hair."
— 1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XXXIII, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC:
"I never thought I'd meet a girl like you / Meet a girl like you / With auburn hair and tawny eyes"
— 1982, “I Ran (So Far Away)”, performed by A Flock of Seagulls:
"On Sept. 19, Brilyn Hollyhand, Auburn freshman studying political science, announced his plans to join forces with Turning Point USA (TPUSA) to launch his “One Conversation at a Time” college campus tour."
— 2025 September 25, Tripp Hedden, “Brilyn Hollyhand announces campus tour with Turning Point USA”, in The Auburn Plainsman:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her long ____ hair shimmered with reddish-brown highlights in the sunlight.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She had beautiful ____ hair that glowed in the light of the sun.