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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Synonyms & Antonyms for fade

Synonyms: Verb

blanch, bleach, blench, decolorize, dull, pale, snow, wash out, whiten

Antonyms: Verb

darken, deepen, embrown

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

Ditko continued to work for multiple publishers, including Marvel, after that but his star had started to fade. — Graeme Mcmillan, WIRED, "Steve Ditko Was More Than Just the Guy Behind Spider-Man," 9 July 2018 Because of technical problems with its rockets and cost pressure from SpaceX, the country's once-lucrative commercial launch industry is fading. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "Russian editor: Our space program is entering the “Dark Ages”," 9 July 2018 By the 12th inning or so, that feeling starts to fade. — Emma Baccellieri, SI.com, "The Rays and Marlins Played An Incredibly Strange Game on Tuesday Night," 4 July 2018 Traditional back-to-basket centers are fading out of the picture. — Josh Robbins, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Magic Mailbag: What should Orlando do in the 2018 NBA Draft?," 20 June 2018 Global growth is set to slow over the next two years as central banks raise borrowing rates and U.S. fiscal stimulus starts to fade, according to the World Bank. — Dana Pardini, Bloomberg.com, "Everything You Need to Know This Morning From Daybreak (Podcast)," 5 June 2018 And finally, in Orange County’s 48th District, fears of a Democratic lockout are real but may be fading. — Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "There Is a Lot at Stake in California’s Primaries Today," 5 June 2018 The media blitz that initially animated his top health lieutenants is fading. — Erin Mershon, STAT, "Meet the six Trump administration officials who will oversee the next moves on drug pricing," 29 May 2018 The goodwill that first greeted the coalition is fading as popular anger mounts, especially in the Arab heartlands south of Raqqa, along the Euphrates river. — The Economist, "America’s strategy against Islamic State is storing up trouble," 26 May 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

For Carlos and his family, though, the hopes of a swift reunion fade with every passing day. — Jay Root And Shannon Najmabadi, star-telegram, "'A very cruel punishment': Family split by 'zero tolerance' won't try to cross again," 10 July 2018 Prescott connected with Allen Hurns on a back-shoulder fade in which Hurns boxed out Byron Jones and got both feet in bounds. — Drew Davison, star-telegram, "5 takeaways from last day of Cowboys' minicamp," 14 June 2018 New navigational gestures and controls Google aims to make navigation and multitasking on the phone more approachable by making the tech fade into the background. — Edward C. Baig, USA TODAY, "Five ways Android P will change how you use your smartphone--and put it down," 8 May 2018 Ismael Chamu looks the part of a typical college student, with his backpack, black jeans and stylish fade haircut. — Teresa Watanabe, latimes.com, "He attends elite UC Berkeley but lives in a trailer with no heat or sewer hookups. Soon, he'll be scrambling to find new shelter," 12 Mar. 2018 As a kid trying to get a fashionable high-top fade in the 1990s, Capriece Batchelor felt defeated. — Leilani Marie Labong, SFChronicle.com, "At the Culture of Hair salon, the mission is top of mind — and head," 5 July 2018 Quarterback Nate Sudfeld hit Joshua Perkins on a corner fade for a score. — Jeff Mclane, Philly.com, "Eagles practice observations: Carson Wentz's arm strength; Philly Special redux; quarterback golf," 14 June 2018 Relatedly, John Cena now prefers his haircut high and tight, skin fade with a six guard up top. — Chris Gayomali, GQ, "Suiting Up with John Cena," 12 June 2018 Rain should taper to showers tomorrow and fade later in the day to allow temperatures to warm up a bit better before sunset. — Matt Rogers, Washington Post, "D.C.-area forecast: Cool and rainy through tomorrow afternoon, sun returns by Thursday," 24 Apr. 2018

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

6 Nov 2018

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