One moment, the Sound of Sleat is a sheet of silver under a pale sun; the next, wind drives rain sideways into the distillery’s courtyard, rattling the pagoda roof.
—
Gina Pace,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Curiosity and possibly even lust play into their first encounter; part of the welcome complexity between this pale-skinned woman of substance and this tall, equally alabaster, formerly dead drink of water is the ambiguity in their initial interactions.
During a visit in August with two Times reporters, Mr. Perez’s skin was sallow.
—
Aimee Ortiz,
New York Times,
7 Dec. 2023
An awkward, sallow, provincial, minor army officer, Napoleon, was irresistibly drawn to Joséphine, attracted by her proximity to the most powerful men in France.
If the land in question has been converted from agricultural fields to golf-course acreage, the net impact of those other factors might actually be lessened, but that’s a wan exculpation.
—
David Quammen,
Outside Online,
2 Mar. 2020
The industrial lagers were flavorless, wan and dilute; craft beer, by contrast, would be rich, complex and delicious.
These emaciated, ashy pyromaniacs are led by Varang (Oona Chaplin), giving Queen of the Damned body tea in her bloodred makeup and statement headpiece.
—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
28 July 2025
But, according to Bremer, preventing your under eyes from looking ashy is an important step too.
Boat shoes, collared shirt, sunburn, tan around sunglasses, pasty, red hair.
—
Julyssa Lopez,
Rolling Stone,
2 Sep. 2025
Myers, the talent behind Wednesday’s roommate, Enid Sinclair, in the show, conversely, kept a pasty, pale visage, drawing attention to her deep plum lipstick.
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.
Share