as in brightened
to make white or whiter by removing color
bleached the stained shirt back to its original white
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in faded
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bleached
Skye Sherman, Southern Living, 9 Aug. 2025
Denise Hruby, Miami Herald, 29 Aug. 2025
The only thing not bleached was, luckily, his face.
—Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Aug. 2025
The visual begins with the 21-year-old Slovak pop star—her hair dyed pastel pink, her eyebrows bleached—appearing to simulate an orgasm in front of a shrine to pop music in her bedroom.
—Liam Hess, Vogue, 23 Aug. 2025
Tokischa’s hair spikes out like jagged rays of an eccentric sun, bleached in a shade of unapologetic, brassy yellow.
—Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 15 Aug. 2025
The result is this versatile carpet with lots of texture and a unique checkerboard print created by the contrasting bleached and unbleached jute fibers.
—Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 13 Aug. 2025
Unfortunately, the 2025 Perseids happened to coincide with the appearance of a waxing gibbous moon, which bleached the sky with moonlight, blotting out all but the brightest members of the ancient meteor shower.
—Anthony Wood, Space.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef, famed for its stunning colors and biodiversity, suffered its biggest ever decline last year after a marine heatwave bleached vast swathes of hard coral, a new report has found.
—Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2025
After a couple of hours, the acorn flour was bleached of its toxic tannins.
—Shaun McKinnon, AZCentral.com, 26 July 2025
Verb
Towering live oaks, cedars, and palmettos once grew near the shore here, but as the Atlantic’s erosive forces carved the bluffs away, the trees tumbled down and were weathered by sun and salt into pale, bleached skeletons.
—Skye Sherman, Southern Living, 9 Aug. 2025
Adjective
The coral, now bleached, is alive, but slowly starving.
—Denise Hruby, Miami Herald, 29 Aug. 2025
The only thing not bleached was, luckily, his face.
—Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Aug. 2025
The visual begins with the 21-year-old Slovak pop star—her hair dyed pastel pink, her eyebrows bleached—appearing to simulate an orgasm in front of a shrine to pop music in her bedroom.
—Liam Hess, Vogue, 23 Aug. 2025
Tokischa’s hair spikes out like jagged rays of an eccentric sun, bleached in a shade of unapologetic, brassy yellow.
—Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 15 Aug. 2025
The result is this versatile carpet with lots of texture and a unique checkerboard print created by the contrasting bleached and unbleached jute fibers.
—Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 13 Aug. 2025
Unfortunately, the 2025 Perseids happened to coincide with the appearance of a waxing gibbous moon, which bleached the sky with moonlight, blotting out all but the brightest members of the ancient meteor shower.
—Anthony Wood, Space.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef, famed for its stunning colors and biodiversity, suffered its biggest ever decline last year after a marine heatwave bleached vast swathes of hard coral, a new report has found.
—Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2025
After a couple of hours, the acorn flour was bleached of its toxic tannins.
—Shaun McKinnon, AZCentral.com, 26 July 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bleached
Verb
-
When the screams faded away, Monica Santana and Maria Lema, who had driven down from Waukegan to scream, peeled off.—
Christopher Borrelli,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Sep. 2025
-
The legal sands shifted in the weeks and months after they were formally charged and days of demonstrations protesting his death faded out.—
Chris Ramirez,
jsonline.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Chorizo, shrimp, clams, and corn soak in a rich beer-and-butter broth, brightened with lemon and parsley to deliver all the flavor of a hands-on boil without the mess.—
SAVEUR Editors,
Saveur,
4 Sep. 2025
-
There’s much, much more to the culture, of course, and there are positive and negative associations with ultras around Germany and beyond, but this was another occasion brightened by their work.—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
New York Times,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
It’s set in a small-town community in upstate New York, where the long-gray-haired and bearded Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) is the contempo version of a fire-and-brimstone cult leader, preaching fury in the form of piety.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
7 Sep. 2025
-
But Leticia Gutierrez, a gray-haired Catholic nun, asked them to sit down.—
Lauren Villagran,
USA Today,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Images generally have washed-out colors and an overall dark tone.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
25 July 2025
-
Lindsay’s nails cause the color of the nail bed to look half white and half red or brown, whereas Terry’s nails cause the nail bed to look mostly white or washed-out, per Cleveland Clinic.—
Caroline C. Boyle,
USA TODAY,
12 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
There’s a fine line between being a bit mysterious in negotiations and just being wishy washy.—
Matt Fleming,
Oc Register,
23 June 2025
-
The best is the smiles and dancing at the washy washy station.—
Nathan Diller,
USA TODAY,
13 May 2024
Cite this Entry
“Bleached.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bleached. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share