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
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
Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
Dorm Décor’s Elizabeth Edwards, sales and marketing manager, agrees that the dorms of yesteryear pale in comparison to what’s going on these days.
—Catherine Salfino, Sourcing Journal, 22 Aug. 2025
Tessa Cooper, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Oct. 2025
Boultier expresses similar views and suggests steering clear of muddy pastels like dusty lilac or pale mint green.
—Sarah Lyon, Southern Living, 5 Oct. 2025
David K. Li, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2025
The gamble paled in comparison to the hand their newest subject, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, went all-in on in the oil fields.
—Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 19 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pale
Adjective
However, these pale in comparison to her horrid record of decisions as a Supreme Court justice.
—Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
Dorm Décor’s Elizabeth Edwards, sales and marketing manager, agrees that the dorms of yesteryear pale in comparison to what’s going on these days.
—Catherine Salfino, Sourcing Journal, 22 Aug. 2025
Verb
This is the top reason designer Sara McDaniel of Simply Southern Cottage loves applying pale yellow paint to cabinets.
—Tessa Cooper, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Oct. 2025
Boultier expresses similar views and suggests steering clear of muddy pastels like dusty lilac or pale mint green.
—Sarah Lyon, Southern Living, 5 Oct. 2025
Noun
There were 1,381 girls who played baseball last academic year — a surprisingly high number that still pales in comparison to the 472,598 boys in caps and cleats.
—David K. Li, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2025
The gamble paled in comparison to the hand their newest subject, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, went all-in on in the oil fields.
—Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 19 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pale
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pale
Adjective
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One man, wearing a faded Scott Kingery shirt, admired the view from behind home plate on the club level.—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
-
In 1975, Elvis was a faded star in Vegas and Robert Johnson was just another obscure dead bluesman.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Morfydd Clark, pallid at first, has some emotive scenes at the wedding when Ophelia rails at Hamlet for turning away from her.—
Caryn James,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Aug. 2025
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Yet senior test kitchen editor Jesse Szewczyk recently took one of those pallid lumps and coaxed utter brilliance from it.—
Chris Morocco,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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But those conditions are vague, and largely left to interpretation, Chris Mirasola, a professor of law at The University of Houston Law Center, tells TIME.—
Connor Greene,
Time,
7 Oct. 2025
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Fans reportedly emptied out of the stadium before halftime, and after the final whistle, the 73-year-old former NFL coach was left making vague promises that his team would somehow turn the corner.—
Sean Neumann,
PEOPLE,
6 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Diesel also showed denim bleached from the inside out, creating an x-ray effect on the garment.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
7 Oct. 2025
-
The Laundress Whites Detergent really boosts the brightness of everything—and no yellowish tint that often comes from bleaching clothes.—
Alicia Geigel,
Southern Living,
7 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The five elements still exempt from China’s controls are largely light rare earths, which are more abundant, easier to mine and refine, and less strategically constrained than their heavier counterparts.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
10 Oct. 2025
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To move faster, engineers need light sources that can send multiple streams through the same fiber at once.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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His nephew said that, for decades, his grandparents had kept alive a faint hope that maybe their hero son had just been captured and would one day come gamboling through the front door to the family’s Brookside home.—
Eric Adler,
Kansas City Star,
10 Oct. 2025
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From this distance, Swift detected the faint ultraviolet glow of hydroxyl (OH), the product of water molecules broken apart by sunlight, the study reports.—
Sharmila Kuthunur,
Space.com,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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That legacy hasn’t faded, but the region feels freshly alive these days as chefs, artists, and creative entrepreneurs put down roots.—
Lauren Dana Ellman,
Travel + Leisure,
11 Oct. 2025
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With spring bloomers like azaleas, wait to prune later in spring after the flowers have faded.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
11 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
If no shelter is available, crawl to an interior wall away from windows.—
CA Earthquake Bot,
Sacbee.com,
12 Oct. 2025
-
According to The Charlotte Observer, an employee became suspicious after items appeared to be missing, and later found evidence that someone had been sleeping on an inflatable pool float behind a false wall.—
Jordana Comiter,
PEOPLE,
11 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pale. Accessed 13 Oct. 2025.
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