fade

verb \ ˈfād \

Updated on: 13 Oct 2017

Definition of fade

faded; fading

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

—

fader

noun

See fade defined for English-language learners

See fade defined for kids

Examples of fade in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of fade from the Web

The criticism of the Pacquiao fight will now fade away, and the last image of the best defensive fighter of his generation will be of him coming forward boldly and going for one final knockout.

— tim dahlberg, courant.com, "Mayweather, McGregor Counting Their Money," 27 Aug. 2017
Prospects for an accord have faded, according to some analysts.

— jen skerritt, Bloomberg.com, "Canada Is Set to Sue U.S. on Lumber If Trade Negotiations Fail," 24 Aug. 2017
But the issue faded until earlier this month, when City Councilwoman Helen Gym called on Twitter for the removal of the statue after white supremacists and neo-Nazis clashed on Aug. 12 with counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Va.

— chris brennan, Philly.com, "Kenney says Art Commission will make the call on Rizzo statue," 22 Aug. 2017
Atlanta (10-19) has lost its last eight games and the Dream's playoff hopes are fading.

— andy buhler, The Courier-Journal, "U of L's Angel McCoughtry eyes return to basketball after sitting out WNBA season," 17 Aug. 2017
Unfortunately for all of us, the episode faded to black on a shot of Jaime falling into the water Jack Dawson-style, with his fate unknown.

— kayleigh roberts, Marie Claire, "'Game of Thrones' *Miiiiiiight* Have Just Killed Off a Very Major Character," 6 Aug. 2017
Microsoft’s HoloLens may have largely faded from public view, but that doesn’t mean that Microsoft’s halted development on it.

— mark hachman, PCWorld, "Microsoft is building a better HoloLens with a new chip focused on machine learning," 24 July 2017
Time and time again, Earth has been pummeled by asteroids, but that ancient record is often faded and dubious.

— sid perkins, Science | AAAS, "Lightning can beat up rocks like an asteroid strike, casting doubt on past impacts," 21 July 2017
As a result, Shareef’s community has realized that, as the relevance of this American sect fades into the background, New Medinah’s existence might die with its founders.

— abigail hauslohner, Washington Post, "In Mississippi, aging Muslim community worries about its future," 19 July 2017

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.

Origin and Etymology of fade

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

fade Synonyms

Synonyms

dematerialize, dissolve, evanesce, evaporate, disappear, flee, fly, go (away), melt, sink, vanish

Antonyms

appear, materialize

Related Words

blank (out), clear, die (away or down or out), disperse, dissipate, dissolve, dry up; blur, dim

Near Antonyms

arrive, break out, come out, emerge, issue, loom, show up

fade

noun

Definition of fade

1 a :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

See fade defined for English-language learners

Examples of fade in a Sentence

The movie ends with a fade to black.

Recent Examples of fade from the Web

A two-game split separated that run from the aforementioned fade.

— jay jaffe, SI.com, "Absolute Zero: The Kansas City Royals Can't Score and It's Killing Their Season," 29 Aug. 2017
Literally, my gray-fade jeans and my new high-twist mock-neck T-shirts are my uniform every day.

— christine whitney, The Cut, "Alexander Wang’s Secret to Enjoying Life," 21 Aug. 2017
Williams got substantial playing time early and made two more big plays — a 27-yard catch to then set up his 1-yard TD pass on a fade route from Wilson.

— bob condotta, The Seattle Times, "What we learned from Seahawks’ win over Vikings: The offensive line will need a makeover, Kasen Williams may be a keeper, and more," 19 Aug. 2017
In 2015 Beckham’s signature fade was among the most searched for haircuts on the Internet, for example, and there are currently hundreds of thousands of tutorials on how to achieve the look on YouTube.

— megan gustashaw, GQ, "David Beckham’s Hair Is Straight Out of 2003," 18 Aug. 2017
Rivers found Allen for touchdowns on fade routes near the back corner of the end zone.

— larry holder, NOLA.com, "5(ish) Saints observations from Thursday's Chargers joint training camp session," 17 Aug. 2017
One was badly overthrown and the other, on a fade route into the left side of the end zone, didn’t connect when Jeffery couldn’t weave through defensive traffic to get there.

— bob ford, Philly.com, "Eagles send Carson Wentz back out to find Alshon Jeffery, forget Jordan Matthews | Bob Ford," 17 Aug. 2017
Newton threw for 10 minutes during individuals, including a fade pass to Kelvin Benjamin and a toss over the middle to McCaffrey.

— joseph person, charlotteobserver, "After limited camp, Panthers have a plan to get Cam Newton ready for Week 1," 13 Aug. 2017
Hayden split a pair of reps with Golden Tate, forcing an incompletion on a fade route.

— dave birkett, Detroit Free Press, "Lions training camp observations: Joe Dahl takes first-team reps at OG," 6 Aug. 2017

Origin and Etymology of fade

see ¹fade

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1918

See Words from the same year

Other Broadcasting Terms

continuity, dissolve, feed, remote, residual, spike, wipe

fade

adjective \ ˈfäd \

Definition of fade

:insipid, commonplace

Recent Examples of fade from the Web

But Cameron Meredith on a fade route presented a lower risk.

— rich campbell, chicagotribune.com, "Bears cling to positives as offense regroups for third exhibition," 21 Aug. 2017

Origin and Etymology of fade

Middle English, from Anglo-French

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

Financial Definition of FADE

fade

noun

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 Defined for English Language Learners

fade

verb

Definition of fade for English Language Learners

: to lose strength or freshness : to become weaker
: to disappear gradually
: to become less bright : to lose color

fade

noun

Definition of fade for English Language Learners

: a gradual change from one picture to another in a movie or television program

FADE Defined for Kids

fade

verb \ ˈfād \

Definition of fade for Students

faded; fading

1 :to lose or cause to lose brightness of color

2 :to dry up :wither

The flowers were fading.

3 :to grow dim or faint

The path faded out.

Her memory faded.

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See words that rhyme with fade Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for fade Spanish Central: Translation of fade Nglish: Translation of fade for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of fade for Arabic speakers

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fade

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fade

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Origin and Etymology of fade

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FADE Defined for English Language Learners

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fade

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