Entry Word: shade

Function: noun

Meaning: 1 partial darkness due to the obstruction of light rays <it was hard to see in the shade after being in the brilliant sunlight> <the trees cast shade>

Synonyms penumbra, shadiness, shadow, umbra

Related Words blackness, dimness, duskiness, gloominess, murkiness, obscurity, somberness; cloudiness, dullness (also dulness)

Near Antonyms brightness, brilliance, effulgence, illumination, incandescence, light, lightness, lucidity, lucidness, luminosity, radiance

2 a time or place of little or no light <enjoying the cool shade of the evening> — see dark 1
3 a property that becomes apparent when light falls on an object and by which things that are identical in form can be distinguished <a lovely shade of blue> — see color 1
4 a very small amount <just a shade taller than his dance partner> — see particle 1
5 the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people <spirits and shades haunting the night> — see ghost