pale 1 of 3

adjective

ˈpāl How to pronounce pale (audio)
Definition of palenext
1
as in faded
lacking intensity of color we chose a very pale pink for the walls of the room

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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

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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

pale

2 of 3

verb

as in to bleach
to make white or whiter by removing color the sun eventually paled my bright blue shirt

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

pale

3 of 3

noun

as in paling

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 pale
Adjective
After a patient day of defrosting in the fridge, the best part is the pale green marzipan exterior. — Alex Beggs, Bon Appetit Magazine, 21 Oct. 2026 But those price increases pale in comparison to the rise in Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) premiums. — Merrill Matthews, Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2026
Verb
Silicon Valley has paled in comparison to Wall Street as a sexy subject matter on the big screen historically, as research by Rentrak found, though box office totals are not apples-to-apples comparisons of performance. — Liz Rappaport, semafor.com, 11 Sep. 2026 Yet even that achievement paled when compared to his intoxicating return in February 1992 as manager. — Michael Walker, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2026
Noun
There were pale lime-skinned figs with lemon-yellow insides, mauve figs with strawberry insides, striped with pale-rose. — Angelica Calabrese, Longreads, 7 July 2026 And the idea that publicly supporting Obama is acceptable while publicly supporting Trump is somehow beyond the pale speaks to the double standard that critics like Clark continue to apply. — Bobby Burack Outkick, FOXNews.com, 29 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for pale
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pale
  1. faded
  2. pallid
  3. vague
  4. bleach
  5. wall
  6. light
  7. faint
  8. fade
Adjective
  • Investigators described him as a white male in his late 50s, with a scruffy, gray beard who was wearing a faded blue baseball cap.
    — Dan Raby, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The landscape flowed in ridges and mountains of faded yellow and whisper pink, where welwitschia–large, low-lying plants that live to be hundreds of years old–sprawled like relics from a Dune film set.
    — Samantha Falewée, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of faded
Adjective
  • The pallid grayness of Mike Eley’s cinematography is probably supposed to mimic the finality of HIV/AIDS taking hold, but there’s no passion aesthetically to counterbalance what becomes absolute misery onscreen to watch.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Young people in particular have soured on the technology over the last year, a development that may at least partially be explained by a pallid entry-level job market.
    — T.M. Brown, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of pallid
Adjective
  • Recent criticism The century-old restaurant guide is famous for its secrecy; its inspectors are anonymous and the company releases only vague information about their evaluation process.
    — Henri Hollis, AJC.com, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The plaintiffs had argued those terms were vague, and that the council selectively used them to silence prominent critics, violating their First Amendment rights.
    — Danya Gainor, CNN Money, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of vague
Verb
  • But their research findings could open the door to a new intervention to help corals recover from bleaching events.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Eco effort While over 80% of the reefs around the resort were bleached following the dramatic temperature rises of El Nino in 2016, the resort is throwing everything at its coral nursery and the green shoots are showing.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of bleach
Noun
  • The Kool-Aid man never comes crashing through the wall; there’s no cameo from Big Red’s kissing couple.
    — Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The bottom of the walls was damaged; these surfaces are not smooth and easily cleanable.
    — NWA Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of wall
Adjective
  • Cameras and microphones capture light and sound waves, while odors come from chemical compounds that must be detected and physically released for someone to experience them.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2026
  • The textures are light, the finishes natural, and the light diffused—just enough to give the face a fresh, vibrant look.
    — Jeanne Ballion, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of light
Adjective
  • But take a walk inside and the ground is laden with faint slabs of rock, gravestones from a centuries-old Indigenous family cemetery that had been obscured by the passage of time and neglect.
    — Jason Motlagh, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2026
  • However, the light cast by the waxing moon — just four days from being full — will likely reduce the number of visible meteors by hiding fainter Orionids from sight.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of faint
Verb
  • That terrible scenario that doesn't easily fade definitely caused everyone to believe Quinn was at it again on Monday night – messing up again, forgetting that the last play was fourth down instead of third down.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Yet, in the urban South, recent linguistic research finds that the drawl’s most salient features are starting to fade on the lips of young speakers.
    — Valerie M. Fridland, The Conversation, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of fade

Browse Nearby Words

palavers
pale
paled
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Cite this Entry

“Pale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pale. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

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