I. ˈskärlə̇t, ˈskȧl-, usu -ə̇d.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English scarlet, scarlat, from Old French or Medieval Latin; Old French escarlate, from Medieval Latin scarlata, scarlatum, scarleta, scarletum, from Persian saqalāt kind of rich cloth
1.
a. obsolete
(1) : a rich cloth of bright color
(2) or scarlet in grain
[ scarlet in grain, Middle English, from scarlet + in grain — more at grain ]
: a cloth of a fast-dyed red
b. : cloth or clothes of a scarlet color
arrayed in scarlet
specifically : a costume of scarlet color signifying official or professional rank or worn as a uniform
c. : persons wearing scarlet (as at a fox hunt)
2.
a. : any of various bright reds
summer flowers had given place to the scarlets and mauves of autumn — Frances Towers
b. or scarlet red : a vivid red that is yellower and slightly paler than apple red, yellower and lighter than carmine, yellower and duller than Castilian red, yellower and paler than madder crimson, and bluer, less strong, and slightly darker than pimento — called also French scarlet, Venetian scarlet
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from scarlet (I)
1.
a. : of the color scarlet
b. : clad in scarlet
c. : having the face reddened by emotion (as embarrassment, anger) : red-faced
turned scarlet with rage
2.
[so called from its use in Isa 1:18 and Rev 17:1-6]
a. : glaringly offensive : flagrant , heinous
bent upon sinning in flagrant and scarlet fashion — G.W.Johnson
b. : of, characterized by, or associated with sexual immorality ; specifically : of or practicing prostitution
in the mining camps … the inevitable influx of scarlet women who became the hostesses of the gambling dens and night clubs — Mabel Elliott