as in fades
to make white or whiter by removing color
the sun eventually paled my bright blue shirt
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Recent Examples of pales
ABC News,
17 Apr. 2026
Being the offense’s engine is a completely different (and more challenging) assignment than being an off-ball threat, and while Knueppel might already be the best off-ball player in the league, the value of that role still pales behind that of a big, ballhandling wing.
—
John Hollinger,
New York Times,
15 Apr. 2026
The team’s turnaround still pales in comparison to what Oklahoma City or San Antonio has done, emerging as title contenders with MVP-caliber players anchoring their lineups.
—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
14 Apr. 2026
His county’s population has grown by roughly by 32% since 1990, which pales in comparison with statewide growth of 74%.
—
Bill Barrow,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Jan. 2026
And the scale of this pullback still pales next to its 75% collapse during the 2021–2022 bear market.
—
Emily Nicolle,
Fortune,
23 Nov. 2025
And for those who do manage to build a large emergency fund, the balance often pales in comparison to what a common medical procedure could cost, Volk said.
—
Berkeley Lovelace Jr,
NBC news,
22 Oct. 2025
Chicago only has 10 cranes in the sky, which pales in comparison to other major cities.
—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Sep. 2025
Applebee’s recently managed its first quarter of same-store sales growth after eight consecutive declines, a faint improvement, but one that pales in comparison to the surge at Chili’s or the steady gains at Olive Garden.
—
Jim Osman,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
While the prevalence of carfentanil still pales in comparison to fentanyl, experts are nevertheless alarmed by the increase of a substance researched for years as a chemical weapon and deployed by Russian forces on Chechen separatists in 2002.
—
ABC News,
17 Apr. 2026
Being the offense’s engine is a completely different (and more challenging) assignment than being an off-ball threat, and while Knueppel might already be the best off-ball player in the league, the value of that role still pales behind that of a big, ballhandling wing.
—
John Hollinger,
New York Times,
15 Apr. 2026
The team’s turnaround still pales in comparison to what Oklahoma City or San Antonio has done, emerging as title contenders with MVP-caliber players anchoring their lineups.
—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
14 Apr. 2026
His county’s population has grown by roughly by 32% since 1990, which pales in comparison with statewide growth of 74%.
—
Bill Barrow,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Jan. 2026
And the scale of this pullback still pales next to its 75% collapse during the 2021–2022 bear market.
—
Emily Nicolle,
Fortune,
23 Nov. 2025
And for those who do manage to build a large emergency fund, the balance often pales in comparison to what a common medical procedure could cost, Volk said.
—
Berkeley Lovelace Jr,
NBC news,
22 Oct. 2025
Chicago only has 10 cranes in the sky, which pales in comparison to other major cities.
—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Sep. 2025
Applebee’s recently managed its first quarter of same-store sales growth after eight consecutive declines, a faint improvement, but one that pales in comparison to the surge at Chili’s or the steady gains at Olive Garden.
—
Jim Osman,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pales
Verb
-
But rental business owners like Zhao observed that the rental prices have begun to slide as novelty surrounding these stunt-performing androids fades.
-
But as hope of finding survivors fades and the number of dead continues to climb, many fear the political aftershocks of the disaster may prove nearly as destabilizing as the earthquake itself.
Noun
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The fire is moving so rapidly that authorities urged ranchers and residents to cut their fences so their animals might have a better chance of surviving.
-
Law enforcement officials frequently draw virtual fences around areas of interest and require Google to identify every cellphone in the area using cell location history.
Verb
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His owner, Hannah Gleason from Oklahoma, told Newsweek that the merle gene isn’t a coloring gene rather than a gene that bleaches the fur and causes lack of pigmentation which can lead to birth defects, blindness, deafness, or sometimes all three.
Noun
-
The walls are lined with paintings done by her husband, Igor — a painter and sculptor whom The Times profiled in 1991.
-
The household guard allows Rhaenyra and Daemon to land their dragons within the walls of the Red Keep.
Verb
-
The brand uses tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, a gentle, stabilized form of vitamin C that brightens and protects against premature aging.
-
The lemon juice brightens the peaches and helps slow browning, a method also recommended for freezing peaches.
Noun
-
Easing in lets kids absorb the energy gradually, gives you time to find your seats, hit the bathroom and grab snacks or merch without missing the opening notes.
-
Reaching out and sharing what’s going on lets in the light.
Noun
-
Families, educators and advocates described barriers to accessing proper support and services.
-
The Selma-to-Montgomery marches galvanized passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which did away with most barriers such as poll taxes and other forms of voter discrimination targeting Black Americans in the Deep South.
Noun
-
Many hedges, bushes, and trees can block sight lines, so even the nosiest of neighbors will be forced to mind their own business.
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The metaphor of a ‘wall of separation’ At the same time, religious reformers were employing concepts of walls, hedges or other barriers to ensure that the secular and religious realms remained apart.
Cite this Entry
“Pales.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pales. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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