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 with parking spaces costing thousands of dollars apiece — one transportation cost analysis put the land-and-construction cost of a surface parking space at about $8,000 in 2022 dollars — the incentive to design bigger spaces quickly fades.
-
Then again later, because the panic fades before anything gets built.
Noun
-
Videos from the confrontation show smashed car windows, fires burning on the sidewalks, and Haredi men tearing at police fences as officers beat them back and arrest rioters.
-
No parking signs were plastered on fences across Miami Gardens as residents and authorities worked to keep streets clear.
Verb
-
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 acid help brightens your food.
-
Joined by its fellow soft herb pals, oregano and chives, basil brightens up this easy cheese spread.
Noun
-
Reaching out and sharing what’s going on lets in the light.
-
The other lets go of a red balloon.
Noun
-
The Broadway production has also formed an official partnership with mental health nonprofit Project Healthy Minds to reduce barriers to care by making support options for mental health services easily accessible to those in need.
-
Deloitte's State of AI in the Enterprise research similarly highlights governance, risk management and data readiness as some of the most significant barriers to scaling AI successfully.
Noun
-
Similarly, dense plants can act as hedges and also provide great privacy.
-
With stock indexes now holding more semiconductors than ever, perhaps this month's whipsaw has investors paying up for hedges.
Cite this Entry
“Pales.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pales. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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