livid

C2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈlɪvɪd/ See IPA manual

Freq #27261

Meanings

1

adj
furiously angry

Willful stupidity makes them absolutely livid.
2

adj
imparting a deathlike luminosity

Livid lightning streaked the sky.
3

adj
Having a dark, bluish appearance.

Jean Raynaud, cook, aged about twenty years, of a melancholy temperament, had his whole body covered with a purple livid colour, and a bubo under his left axilla; […] His lungs were covered with little livid ſpots, ſoft and pliant, without any hardneſs in their ſubſtance. The liver was larger and harder than ordinary, and was alſo full of livid purple ſpots; […].
4

adj
Pale, pallid.

Ulcers having had their beginning during a Diſeaſe, or before it, growing livid, pale or dry, plainly indicate the proximity of Death, their livid or pale colour being not only the ſign of Cholerick, or Atrabiliary humours cauſing them, but alſo manifeſting an extinction of the natural heat.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 adj · having a dark, bluish... blueybluishcaesiouscerulescentpurplishpurply

4 adj · pale, pallid. ashenashen-facedashyblakeblanchedbleak bloodless chalky

Word family

Forms lividly

Derived forms lividitylividlylividness

Related forms scorch

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

absolutely livid
furiously angry to an extreme degree

Adverb + adjective

Simplified etymology

Livid comes through late Middle English from Latin lividus, derived from livere, "to be bluish." It originally described a bluish, leaden color, especially the appearance of someone cold or ill. The meaning "furiously angry" arose in the late 19th century.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₃y- Proto-Indo-European *(s)lih₃-wó-der. Proto-Italic *slīwēō Latin līveō Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der. Latin -idus Latin līvidusder. Middle French lividebor. Middle English livid English livid From Middle English livid, livide, from Old French livide, from Latin līvidus (“bluish, livid; envious”), from līveō (“be of a bluish color or livid; envy”), from Proto-Italic *sliwēō, from Proto-Indo-European *sliwo-, suffixed form of *(s)leh₃y- (“bluish”). See also Old English slā (“sloe”), Welsh lliw (“splendor, color”), Old Irish li, Lithuanian slyvas (“pl...

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# livid

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈlɪvɪd/
**Frequency rank:** 27261

## Meanings
1. furiously angry
2. imparting a deathlike luminosity
3. Having a dark, bluish appearance.
4. Pale, pallid.

## Examples
- Willful stupidity makes them absolutely livid.
- Livid lightning streaked the sky.
- Jean Raynaud, cook, aged about twenty years, of a melancholy temperament, had his whole body covered with a purple livid colour, and a bubo under his left axilla; […] His lungs were covered with little livid ſpots, ſoft and pliant, without any hardneſs in their ſubſtance. The liver was larger and harder than ordinary, and was alſo full of livid purple ſpots; […].
- Ulcers having had their beginning during a Diſeaſe, or before it, growing livid, pale or dry, plainly indicate the proximity of Death, their livid or pale colour being not only the ſign of Cholerick, or Atrabiliary humours cauſing them, but alſo manifeſting an extinction of the natural heat.

## Derived Forms
- lividity
- lividly
- lividness

## Related Forms
- scorch

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₃y- Proto-Indo-European *(s)lih₃-wó-der. Proto-Italic *slīwēō Latin līveō Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der. Latin -idus Latin līvidusder. Middle French lividebor. Middle English livid English livid From Middle English livid, livide, from Old French livide, from Latin līvidus (“bluish, livid; envious”), from līveō (“be of a bluish color or livid; envy”), from Proto-Italic *sliwēō, from Proto-Indo-European *sliwo-, suffixed form of *(s)leh₃y- (“bluish”). See also Old English slā (“sloe”), Welsh lliw (“splendor, color”), Old Irish li, Lithuanian slyvas (“pl...

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

markdown