off-color

Adjective

off-color (comparative more off-color, superlative most off-color)

1. Of the wrong color.
   • Careful control of mixing at the central point reduces the possibility of off-color paint in some booths, and uniform pressure at the spray guns is easily maintained.1936, Chemical Industries, volume 38, page 400
   • Because of his reputable work with off-color and contaminated materials, I have asked Dr. Otto Speck of Colorama Consultants to give us some direction.2000, John Kenkel, Chemistry: An Industry-Based Laboratory Manual, page 74
2. (idiomatic) Dirty, vulgar or obscene, especially in a way that is unpleasant.
   • He told an off-color joke.
   • [T]he equating of the female genitalia with a wound caused by an axe is a very off-colour metaphor.1996, James Lambert, The Macquarie Book of Slang, Sydney: Macquarie Library, page xii
3. (idiomatic) Different from usual.
   • Since Zappa treats subject matter, dialogue, and song as musical material, Permanent Damage has a casual off-color quality. Permanent Damage and An Evening with Wild Man Fischer were works of oddball sociology as much as they were rock and roll records.2007, Kevin Courrier, Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica
   • Even the roadside sights seemed a little off-color and was just beginning to lose some of its summer luster.2014, Anne W. Mhorelund, Broken Branch: The Patchie Creek Story, page 691
4. (idiomatic) Feeling mildly unwell.
   • I feel a bit off-color today.
   • Nihal Sheshan, one of our officers, tells me our chief has been a little off-color of late. Kind of disoriented sometimes.2009, Kalpana M. Naghnoor, Abstruse, page 111

   Synonyms:

   under the weather