彩る・色取る|いろどるirodoru[3]nakadaka (mid-high)

1. godan verb, transitive verbto colour; to color; to paint
2. godan verb, transitive verbto apply make-up
3. godan verb, transitive verbto decorate; to garnish; to adorn; to add flair

• Synonym着色ちゃくしょくNeutralColouring an object; used in industry, painting and illustration, as in 「着色料」. Lacks the sense of adorning or adding flair that 「彩る」 has.
• Synonym彩色さいしきWrittenApplying colour, mostly in painting and crafts; written style. 「彩る」 can also figuratively brighten an occasion.
• Synonym染めるそめるNeutralDyeing with dye; also said of the evening sky dyed red. 「彩る」 stresses adorning something and adding flair.
• Synonym塗るぬるNeutralSpreading paint, ointment and the like; the focus is on the action itself. 「彩る」 focuses on the beauty that colour adds.
• Synonym飾るかざるNeutralThe most common word: to decorate or display; also figuratively to crown, as in 「有終の美を飾る」.
• Synonym色付けいろづけNeutralAdding colour to anything in general; also used figuratively for embellishing or dressing up a story. More colloquial than 「彩る」.
• Synonym色付けるいろづけるNeutralAdding colour; not often used. 「彩る」 is more common and usually carries a decorative nuance.
• Related彩りいろどりNeutralNoun for colour coordination, or a touch of colour that brightens things up, as in 「食卓に彩りを添える」.
• Related化粧けしょうNeutralMake-up; also figuratively surface dressing, as in 「雪化粧」. 「彩る」 covers adornment more broadly.
• Related装飾そうしょくWrittenDecoration, as in 「室内装飾」; written style, with no particular emphasis on colour.
• Related塗装とそうNeutralCoating a surface with paint, e.g. car spray work; an engineering process for protection and appearance.
• Related美化びかWrittenBeautifying the environment; also making things sound better than they really are. Different from the adornment of 「彩る」.
• Related飾り付けるかざりつけるNeutralDecorating and setting a place up, e.g. a venue or a Christmas tree; stresses the arrangement, not colour.
• Related染め付けるそめつけるNeutralDyeing patterns into cloth or porcelain; a specialised use.
• Related修飾しゅうしょくWrittenEmbellishing or polishing wording; also grammatical modification. 「彩る」 is about colouring and adorning.
• Related塗りつけるぬりつけるNeutralSmearing or daubing something on; also shifting blame onto someone. About the action, never adornment.
• Antonym褪せるあせるNeutralAntonym: to fade or lose colour; also of memories fading. The opposite of 「彩る」 adding colour.
• Antonym色褪せるいろあせるNeutralAntonym: colour fading and losing its vividness. The opposite of 「彩る」 adding flair.

Use 「彩る」 when colour adorns something or adds flair to a scene, as in 「花火が夜空を彩る」. For plain colouring pick 「塗る」 or 「染める」; for setting up decorations, 「飾る」 or 「飾り付ける」. 「着色」 and 「塗装」 name technical colouring processes, 「色付け」 is a casual word for adding colour, and written-style 「彩色」「装飾」「美化」「修飾」 suit formal prose. 「褪せる」 and 「色褪せる」 are the opposites, for colour fading.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 着色ちゃくしょく、彩色さいしきする。
2. 顔かおに化粧けしょうをする。
3. 色いろを合あわせて装飾そうしょくする。
4. 色彩しきさい豊ゆたかに興きょうを添そえる。
5. エピソードなどで潤色じゅんしょくする。