pale in/by comparison to/with

idiom

: to seem less important, good, serious, etc., when compared with (something else)

The afternoon meal paled in comparison to/with the feast they had later.

Last year's losses pale by comparison with this year's.

Examples of pale in/by comparison to/with in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Ultimately, Nelson agreed, all of these risks pale in comparison with the threat posed by the MOP bomb itself, whose payload is upward of 5,500 pounds and weighs a total of 30,000 pounds. —Alexander Smith, NBC news, 20 June 2025

But Dave’s sales pale in comparison to some of its more ferocious competitors: Chick-Fil-A averaged $9.3 million at its free-standing and drive-thru restaurants last year, while Raising Cane’s reportedly hit $6.2 million in average unit volume. —Jemima McEvoy, Forbes.com, 7 June 2025

But all of these pale in comparison to a new class of events discovered by researchers at the University of Hawai’i’s Institute for Astronomy (IfA). —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 4 June 2025

These minor setbacks pale in comparison to the challenges faced by rivals like Man City, whose struggles can be attributed to a lack of tactical flexibility — a stark contrast to Chelsea’s adaptable approach. —Julia Ranney, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025