Burnt umber is a reddish-brown. You already understand that when you see it, because if you heat it up the color becomes more intense and vibrant! But what does "burnt" mean? Well to put simply burnt means "red." This combination of yellow with red can be found all throughout nature--in leaves for example; this particular hue was named after them as well (they were called Virginia WASPs). Burnt Umber contains hints of grey mixed in which gives off an even richer appearance than other simpler colors like sienna or alizarin crimson do - making this shade much more useful overall depending on your application needs