yellowskinned

Yellowskinned is an adjective used to describe a person whose skin displays a yellowish hue. In contemporary medical and descriptive usage, the term is closely associated with jaundice, a condition characterized by elevated bilirubin in the blood, which can cause yellowing of the skin and, often, the whites of the eyes. The phrase is informal and rarely used in clinical settings, where jaundice or icterus are preferred, but it appears in literature and casual speech as a crude descriptor.

Causes of yellow skin include jaundice from liver or biliary tract disorders, such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, or bile duct obstruction, and syndromes involving rapid red blood cell breakdown, or hemolysis. Another benign cause is carotene-induced sallowing (carotenemia), produced by excess consumption of carotene-rich foods such as carrots and sweet potatoes; this form typically spares the sclera.

Social and linguistic notes: because color-based descriptors tied to illness can stigmatize individuals, many medical and humanities texts prefer precise terms like jaundice or caroteneuria. In fiction, yellowskinned may be used to signal illness, aging, or otherworldliness, but readers should be aware of potential connotations of insensitivity or caricature.

See also: jaundice; icterus; carotene; hyperbilirubinemia.