waxen

Definition of waxennext

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 waxen Instead, the moss’s telltale sign of woe is its glum, grayish hue, a waxen appearance that comes from ferns and algae that have crept over it. Sabrina Imbler, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Dec. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for waxen
Adjective
  • The cold of winter can leave your complexion dry, sallow, and desperate for hydration.
    Daisy Maldonado, InStyle, 2 Apr. 2026
  • Skin color was not black, observed Roggeveen, but pale yellow or sallow.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • Unlike the children, who look like waxy versions of my own, this is my husband, with the soft face and the plaid shirt and the puppy dog— Eyes.
    Glamour, Glamour, 7 Apr. 2026
  • High-starch potatoes will take a little longer to soften fully, while waxier or smaller varieties may cook faster.
    Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Who wouldn’t prefer the glamour and the redemptive grandeur of the radical Jean-Paul Sartre to the pallid temporizing of the liberal Raymond Aron?
    Nikhil Krishnan, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
  • Out of the bloodstains shone a pair of bright blue eyes, and a heart was beating under the pallid skin that looked several sizes too big.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • Warm, ashen, and almost preternaturally glossy, consider the pop star's interpretation a blueprint for the mutable color trend.
    Calin Van Paris, InStyle, 3 Mar. 2026
  • The venerable monk was draped in his maroon and saffron robe, his bare feet looking ashen with dust, a few of his toes still blackened from his arduous walk.
    Sarah Hepola, Dallas Morning News, 27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
  • There’s a painterly look to the image, rather than the typical slop-style sickly sheen, but the AI origins are still unmistakable.
    Cath Virginia, The Verge, 11 Apr. 2026
  • For reasons that are still poorly understood, the body’s immune system, normally tuned exquisitely to root out and destroy invasive pathogens or sickly cells, begins to assault healthy cells instead.
    Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio had already spun the Renaissance fantasy of the bella donna, with her golden tresses, blue eyes, and pale skin.
    Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
  • Some produce pale purple flowers that form crowns around deep green foliage, but others bloom in pink, red, blue, and white hues.
    Patricia S York, Southern Living, 18 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • As the hulking creature, the Australian star appears to have pale, cadaverous skin with lacerations across it and long, stringy hair.
    Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Plus, the kid isn’t dead either, as his flailing pale self that looks on the verge of the cadaverous pops out of the trunk Jack shoves him in.
    Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 1 Sep. 2024
Adjective
  • This cool-toned brunette look has ashy tones throughout.
    Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 4 Apr. 2026
  • Then that September, a nursing assistant found Coulson unresponsive and hanging off the side of her bed, her skin ashy and her breathing shallow.
    Jeremy Kohler, ProPublica, 30 Mar. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Waxen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waxen. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.

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