A liquid crystal composition comprising a dichroic dye, a host liquid crystal and at least one kind of solid matter having an average particle diameter of 1 nm to 10 m, the dichroic dye having a substituent represented by the following formula (1): -(Het).sub.j-{(B.sup.1).sub.p-(Q.sup.1).sub.q-(B.sup.2).sub.r}.sub.n--C.s- up.1: Formula (1) wherein Het is an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom; B.sup.1 and B.sup.2 each independently represent an arylene group, a heteroarylene group, or a divalent cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbon group; Q.sup.1 represents a divalent linking group; C.sup.1 represents an alkyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an alkoxy group, an alkoxycarbonyl group, an acyl group, or an acyloxy group; j represents 0 or 1; p, q, and r represent an integer of 0 to 5, respectively; n represents an integer of 1 to 3; the sum of the groups represented by B.sup.1 and B.sup.2 is an integer of 3 to 10; when p, q and r are respectively 2 or greater, two or more of B.sup.1, Q.sup.1 or B.sup.2 may be the same or different; when n is 2 or greater, two or more of {(B.sup.1).sub.p-(Q.sup.1).sub.q-(B.sup.2).sub.r} may be the same or different.