also: にぶいろ · どんじき
noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'
A traditional Japanese color name for a dark, subdued gray. Often used in literary or aesthetic contexts.
He was wearing a dark gray suit.
The sky was overcast in a dull gray.
donjiki (clerical dress)
Only with reading どんじき
A specific term for a type of clerical robe, read only as どんじき. Rare outside of historical or religious contexts.
Old documents record 鈍色 as a type of monk's robe.
Standard kanji spelling for the color meaning.
Reading used only for the clerical dress sense.
Search-only kanji form; not a standard spelling.
Alternate reading; less common than にびいろ.
鈍 (にび, 'dull') + 色 (いろ, 'color'). The reading にび is a sound shift from にぶ (鈍, 'dull'). The clerical dress sense どんじき is a separate Sino-Japanese reading.