Sallow
Tan-coloured. Of skin: olive or warm-toned rather than pale. In Hiberno-English the word describes a complexion neutrally - someone is sallow rather than pale or fair. The standard English connotation of sickly or yellowish does not carry in Irish use.
Etymology
From Old English 'salu' meaning dark or dusky, applied to colour generally. Standard English narrowed the adjective to a slightly clinical 'yellowish or unhealthy-looking' sense; Hiberno-English kept the neutral 'olive-toned' meaning. A sallow Irish complexion is the kind that tans easily and seldom burns - the opposite of the standard Irish red-haired pale skin.
In a sentence
"He's the sallow one of the family - tans in a single afternoon at the beach."
Historical notes
Sallow in the Hiberno-English sense names a real complexion type that is common enough across Ireland to need its own word. The standard English clinical use ('a sallow face' suggesting illness) is unfamiliar to many Irish speakers, who only hear the neutral colour-descriptive sense. The word is heard freely in descriptions of family resemblance: 'she's got the sallow look from her father's side.'
Sources
- Oxford English Dictionary, entry sallow adj. · dictionary