diff --git a/gseapy/plot.py b/gseapy/plot.py
index c9cb264..9280935 100644
--- a/gseapy/plot.py
+++ b/gseapy/plot.py
@@ -938,6 +938,22 @@ def add_colorbar(self, sc):
         for key, spine in cbar.ax.spines.items():
             spine.set_visible(False)
 
+    def _parse_colors(self, color=None):
+        """
+        parse colors for groups
+        """
+        # map color to group
+        if isinstance(color, dict):
+            return list(color.values())
+        # get default color cycle
+        if (not isinstance(color, str)) and hasattr(color, "__len__"):
+            _colors = list(color)
+        else:
+            # get current matplotlib color cycle
+            prop_cycle = plt.rcParams["axes.prop_cycle"]
+            _colors = prop_cycle.by_key()["color"]
+        return _colors
+
     def barh(self, color=None, group=None, ax=None):
         """
         Barplot
@@ -956,31 +972,31 @@ def barh(self, color=None, group=None, ax=None):
         bar.set_ylabel("")
         bar.set_title(self.title, fontsize=24, fontweight="bold")
         bar.xaxis.set_major_locator(MaxNLocator(nbins=5, integer=True))
-
-        # get default color cycle
-        if (not isinstance(color, str)) and hasattr(color, "__len__"):
-            _colors = list(color)
-        else:
-            prop_cycle = plt.rcParams["axes.prop_cycle"]
-            _colors = prop_cycle.by_key()["color"]
-        colors = _colors
+        #
+        _colors = self._parse_colors(color=color)
         # remove old legend first
         bar.legend_.remove()
         if (group is not None) and (group in self.data.columns):
             num_grp = self.data[group].value_counts(sort=False)
-            # set colors for each bar (groupby hue)
+            # set colors for each bar (groupby hue) using full length
             colors = []
             legend_elements = []
             for i, n in enumerate(num_grp):
                 # cycle _colors if num_grp > len(_colors)
                 c = _colors[i % len(_colors)]
+                # group_label
+                label = num_grp.index[i]
+                # if input color is a dict with keys in group
+                if isinstance(color, dict) and label in color:
+                    c = color[label]
+                # expand the length to match bars
                 colors += [c] * n
                 ele = Line2D(
                     xdata=[0],
                     ydata=[0],
                     marker="o",
                     color="w",
-                    label=num_grp.index[i],
+                    label=label,
                     markerfacecolor=c,
                     markersize=8,
                 )
@@ -993,6 +1009,7 @@ def barh(self, color=None, group=None, ax=None):
                 bbox_to_anchor=(1.02, 0.5),
                 frameon=False,
             )
+
         # update color of bars
         for j, b in enumerate(ax.patches):
             c = colors[j % len(colors)]
@@ -1210,7 +1227,7 @@ def barplot(
     cutoff: float = 0.05,
     top_term: int = 10,
     figsize: Tuple[float, float] = (4, 6),
-    color: Union[str, List[str]] = "salmon",
+    color: Union[str, List[str], Dict[str, str]] = "salmon",
     ofname: Optional[str] = None,
     **kwargs,
 ):
@@ -1225,7 +1242,8 @@ def barplot(
                    ("Adjusted P-value", "P-value", "NOM p-val", "FDR q-val")
     :param top_term: number of top enriched terms grouped by `hue` are shown.
     :param figsize: tuple, matplotlib figsize.
-    :param color: color or list of matplotlib.colors. Must be reconigzed by matplotlib.
+    :param color: color or list or dict of matplotlib.colors. Must be reconigzed by matplotlib.
+                  if dict input, dict keys must be found in the `group`
     :param ofname: output file name. If None, don't save figure
 
     :return: matplotlib.Axes. return None if given ofname.