fade

verb

\ ˈfād

faded; fading

Definition of fade

(Entry 1 of 3)

intransitive verb

1 : to lose freshness, strength, or vitality : wither fading flowers

2 : to lose freshness or brilliance of color The fabrics faded in the strong sunshine.

3 : to sink away : vanish a fading memory The smile faded from his face.

4 : to change gradually in loudness, strength, or visibility —used of a motion-picture image or of an electronics signal and usually with in or out One scene fades out as the next scene fades in.The radio signal faded out as we got further away from the station.

5 of an automobile brake : to lose braking power gradually

6 : to move back from the line of scrimmage —used of a quarterback

7 of a ball or shot : to move in a slight to moderate slice

transitive verb

: to cause to fade time has not completely faded the humor of these verses— G. H. Genzmer

fade

noun

Definition of fade (Entry 2 of 3)

1a : fade-out

b : a gradual changing of one picture to another in a motion-picture or television sequence

2 : a fading of an automobile brake

3 : a slight to moderate and usually intentional slice in golf

4 : a hairstyle similar to a crew cut in which the hair on top of the head stands high

fade

adjective

\ ˈfäd

Definition of fade (Entry 3 of 3)

: insipid, commonplace

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Examples of fade in a Sentence

Verb

The flowers were fading in the vase. the fading light of late afternoon She was fading fast from the effects of the pneumonia. We watched the ship gradually fade from view as it sailed away. The smile faded from his face. Hopes for a quick end of the crisis are fading fast. Their reasons for leaving have faded from memory. He's trying to recapture the faded glory of his youth. The band's popularity has faded in recent years. The fabric will fade unless you protect it from the sunlight.

Noun

The movie ends with a fade to black.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

After one spring fading into the background with a roster that was never going to be good enough to do anything significant, there are no more excuses and no more years to waste. — Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, "Opinion: LeBron James gets what he wanted as Lakers make move for Anthony Davis," 16 June 2019 This isn’t a totally unfamiliar position for Woodland, who was alone with the 36-hole lead at Bellerive Country Club in last year’s PGA Championship before fading down the stretch and finishing in a tie for sixth. — Sam Farmer, latimes.com, "Gary Woodland feels at ease in the U.S. Open driver's seat," 15 June 2019 In his first major after winning the Masters, Reed made a Sunday charge before fading a bit to finish solo fourth last year at Shinnecock. — Daniel Rapaport, SI.com, "Ranking the Top 100 Golfers at the 2019 U.S. Open," 11 June 2019 The sun shade, my personal favorite addition, is a durable, woven polyester shade that's water-resistant and UV coated to keep it from fading in the sun. — Brittney Morgan, House Beautiful, "Your Next Picnic Needs Society6's Fun New Outdoor Line," 16 May 2019 More worryingly for investors, the tendency of Japan’s fiscal guardians to run policy too tight shows little sign of fading. — Mike Bird, WSJ, "The Myths and Legends of Japan’s 20 Years With Zero Interest Rates," 13 Feb. 2019 But instead of fading away, this trend is picking up steam thanks to a few big debuts: Kim Jones at Dior Men and Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton. — Emily Farra, Vogue, "10 Trends We Expect to See in Men’s Street Style This Year," 2 Jan. 2019 Halt your shampooing to only once or twice a week, and swapping out your shampoo for a cleansing conditioner like Purology’s will stop your color from fading and warping. — Sable Yong, Teen Vogue, "Going Platinum: What to Know Before Dyeing Your Hair," 5 Oct. 2018 But get this: Instead of fading away, that deal is still going strong—and unbelievably, other SSD makers have dropped prices to match it. — Brad Chacos, PCWorld, "Price war! Now several 120GB SSDs are selling for a ludicrously low $28," 2 Aug. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

But texts outlive the people who write them, memory of their initial purpose fades, and words take on new meaning and power. — Sara Lipton, The New York Review of Books, "A Terribly Durable Myth," 17 June 2019 Brandon Woodson isn’t the ideal physical target when one is throwing a fade route to the corner of the end zone, but when effort is factored into that scenario, the equation works. — Ted Dunnam, Houston Chronicle, "Local seniors finalize careers in Bayou Bowl," 9 June 2019 This one, however, is placed at the tip of the nail rather than the cuticle curve, and involves a chic, colourful ombré fade. — Megan Decker, refinery29.com, "The Minimalist French-Manicure Trend You'll Want To Wear All Summer," 5 June 2019 Discontent in Baltimore is usually high at this time of the spring as Orioles fans already watch their playoff hopes fade. — Dave Weinstein, WSJ, "Hackers Hold Baltimore Hostage," 30 May 2019 Moore ran a simple fade route with Wilson lofting the ball to him about 25 yards downfield. — Bob Condotta, The Seattle Times, "Seahawks Play of the Week: Lions game was won on the strength of one-on-one battles like this one," 30 Oct. 2018 Wake Forest had lost 11 straight in Raleigh before last year's win here, but the latest late-game fade is sure to be the lasting memory of this one. — USA TODAY, "Yurtseven leads NC State past Wake Forest, 72-63," 18 Jan. 2018 The ceramic composite brakes haul the car down for the next slow left-hander with no fade, no drama, no tail-wiggle. — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, "Driving the Porsche GT3 RS and GT2 RS, the New Quickest Production Cars," 5 Apr. 2019 Armoni Brooks, who finished with 20 points, made three of his six 3-pointers during the run, the last a fade-away from the corner to tie it at 49. — Eric Olson, The Seattle Times, "Herro late 3-pointer lifts Kentucky over Houston, to Elite 8," 30 Mar. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fade.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for fade

Verb

Middle English, from Anglo-French *fader, from fade feeble, insipid, from Vulgar Latin *fatidus, alteration of Latin fatuus fatuous, insipid

Noun

derivative of fade entry 1

Adjective

Middle English, from Anglo-French

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Dictionary Entries near fade

Statistics for fade

Last Updated

19 Jun 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for fade

The first known use of fade was in the 14th century

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More Definitions for fade

fade

noun

Financial Definition of fade

What It Is

A fade is an investment strategy devoted to doing the opposite of the prevailing wisdom. In the brokerage sector, it also refers to a dealer's inability or refusal to fill an order at the prevailing bid/ask spread the dealer has published (that is, the dealer "fades" from trading).

How It Works

Fade investors love to do what's out of favor. They tend to buy when everyone else is selling, sell when everyone else is buying, and wait when everyone else is active. The result is that the contrarian often buys a cheap security that everyone else is calling a dog and sells a security that everyone else is clamoring to get into.

Fade investors often look for stocks with low price-to-earnings ratios. When the market goes up, they sometimes prefer value stocks to growth stocks; when the market goes down, they often favor growth stocks over value stocks.

The Dogs of the Dow strategy is a popular fade strategy whereby investors purchase the highest-yielding stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Remember, a stock has to pay a relatively high dividend and have a relatively low stock price to have a high dividend yield. When any of the investor's stocks rise in price so much that they are no longer one of the ten highest dividend-yield stocks, he sells them, capturing the gain and reinvesting the proceeds in the newest "dog."

Why It Matters

Fade investors zig when everyone else zags. They have strong stomachs, a sense of independence, and an ability to resist the temptations of going with the crowd. That can mean picking up a few dogs, and that can mean sticking with a stock if it has become a dog. Fade investors are not always right, but the philosophy has attracted many happy investors over the years. Even Burton Malkiel, who developed the random walk theory, which says there is no reliable way to beat the market in the long run, acknowledges that contrarian strategies can be successful. They tend to outperform other trading strategies because market reversals are often based on economic facts rather than investor psychology.

It is important to note that fade investing often works best for investors who have thoroughly analyzed the fundamentals of the companies they invest in. Companies with solid management teams, innovative products, efficient processes and good profit margins can often weather being unpopular with the crowd.

Source: Investing Answers

fade

verb