Trogons have distinctive male and female plumages, with soft, often colourful, feathers. This relatively small species is about long and weighs . The head and upper breast of the male are blue and the back is green, becoming bluer on the rump. A faint white line separates the breast from the orange yellow underparts. The undertail is white with black barring, and the wings are black, vermiculated with white. The complete eye-ring is yellow. The female violaceous trogon resembles the male, but has a dark grey back, head and breast, and an incomplete white eye-ring.