1
as in faded
lacking intensity of color
we chose a very pale pink for the walls of the room
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in pallid
lacking a healthy skin color
after a week with the flu, she was deathly pale and noticeably thinner
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in vague
not seen or understood clearly
a pale outline off in the distance proved to be someone out for a walk
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to bleach
to make white or whiter by removing color
the sun eventually paled my bright blue shirt
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in paling
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pale
Kathryn O'Shea-Evans, Architectural Digest, 16 Apr. 2026
Hydrate Your Lips Dry, pale lips are one of the fastest tells of a rough night.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 15 Apr. 2026
Manal Albarakati, semafor.com, 25 Mar. 2026
Ultimately, all of these explanations paled in comparison to the big one.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 16 Mar. 2026
Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 1 Feb. 2026
At the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Chase Infiniti stepped out in a satin pale pink gown with a cowl neckline.
—Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 5 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for pale
Adjective
That said, small doesn’t have to mean pale.
—Kathryn O'Shea-Evans, Architectural Digest, 16 Apr. 2026
Hydrate Your Lips Dry, pale lips are one of the fastest tells of a rough night.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 15 Apr. 2026
Verb
For many Saudis, this war has paled in comparison to the one which followed Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
—Manal Albarakati, semafor.com, 25 Mar. 2026
Ultimately, all of these explanations paled in comparison to the big one.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 16 Mar. 2026
Noun
An evening in Milwaukee last week was an illuminating reminder that the Nuggets’ trade deadline dilemmas pale in comparison to others around the NBA this year.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 1 Feb. 2026
At the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Chase Infiniti stepped out in a satin pale pink gown with a cowl neckline.
—Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 5 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for pale
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pale
Adjective
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For the second time in a week, the Dodgers made a minor-league acquisition of a faded pitching prospect with impressive velocity but poor control.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
18 Apr. 2026
-
Meanwhile, Jenner is pictured wearing a pair of faded yellow jeans and a white tank top, paired with a belly chain.—
Charna Flam,
PEOPLE,
18 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Who wouldn’t prefer the glamour and the redemptive grandeur of the radical Jean-Paul Sartre to the pallid temporizing of the liberal Raymond Aron?—
Nikhil Krishnan,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Out of the bloodstains shone a pair of bright blue eyes, and a heart was beating under the pallid skin that looked several sizes too big.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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This year, the administration’s budget proposal doesn’t include a hard deadline for phasing out SLS and Orion, just the vaguer request to look for commercial alternatives.—
Sana Pashankar,
Fortune,
11 Apr. 2026
-
There’s just sort of vague purple-ish themes throughout the special.—
Deputy Entertainment,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Here, fabrics are scraped, scratched, patched, bleached, ripped and painted to signify the passage of time.—
Angela Velasquez,
Footwear News,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Once in a while, black flats compress the space, framing a single character’s face, bathed in a bleaching white light, as if their vulnerabilities were being scanned by an MRI.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
16 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Seven months is a light year in politics — and that elephant in the room isn’t the Republican mascot.—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
24 Apr. 2026
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Stuart Campbell, who plays a young Ruben, said capturing the lighter moments between the characters was key — despite the relationship’s darker elements.—
Lexi Carson,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Unlike total solar eclipses, which reveal the sun's faint outer atmosphere, annular eclipses are still a form of partial eclipse and require proper eye protection to view safely.—
Ryan French,
Space.com,
20 Apr. 2026
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One of these experiment models, ABRACADABRA, employs high-sensitivity radio to capture the faint hum of axion’s oscillating magnetic fields thanks to the close cooperation of UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.—
Chase Hunter,
Mercury News,
19 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Garments spanning nylon half-zips to French Terry sweatshirts, garments look faded and worn-in and feature hallmarks of denim like whiskers, creases, abrasions and breakages that tell stories of time and use.—
Angela Velasquez,
Footwear News,
24 Apr. 2026
-
It's become the default mode of governing for majorities in Congress as bipartisanship on major issues fades away.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Miguel Vargas then hit a liner that got over the left-field wall for back-to-back home runs.—
LaMond Pope,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Apr. 2026
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Nature’s drones are male bees that build the walls and octagonal cells of the hive and die after mating.—
Horace D. Ballard,
Artforum,
22 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pale. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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