grünliche

Grünliche is a German adjective meaning “greenish” or “green-tinted.” It describes colors or appearances that are partially green or inclined toward green rather than being a pure, vivid green.

The word is used primarily to describe hue in relation to a noun. For example, one can say eine grünliche Farbe (a greenish color), eine grünliche Tönung (a greenish tint), or grünliche Flecken (greenish stains). After definite or indefinite articles, the ending varies with gender and number; in predicative position after sein, the base form grünlich is typical: Das Wasser ist grünlich.

Grünliche is formed from grün (green) plus the suffix -lich, which creates adjectives that denote a characteristic. The attributive form grünliche is one inflected variant; other inflections exist depending on gender, number, and case. In everyday language, speakers also use grünlich as the base adjective in predicative constructions (das Wasser ist grünlich) or as a base form in compounds and descriptive phrases.

Usage notes: Grünlich and its inflected forms are common in descriptive writing, botany, geology, design, and journalism to signal a mild or uncertain green, often implying a mix with yellow or blue. Because color perception is subjective, the exact shade can be ambiguous; for precise description, additional qualifiers or color specifications may be used.

See also: Grün, Grünfarbe, Grünheit.