pale 1 of 3

adjective

ˈpāl How to pronounce pale (audio)
Definition of palenext
1
as in faded
lacking intensity of color we chose a very pale pink for the walls of the room

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

pale

2 of 3

verb

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

pale

3 of 3

noun

as in paling

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

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 pale
Adjective
That gives the gin a pale yellow color, and adds barrel notes of oak and dried fruit to a palate shaped by botanicals including juniper, queen of the night (a nocturnal cactus flower), coriander seed, Damask rose, and Nigerian ginger. — Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 15 Oct. 2026 Idaho’s reimbursement rates for care providers also pale in comparison to some neighboring states. — Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman, 15 Oct. 2026
Verb
The New York Times reported earlier Monday that Truth Social's traffic — which already paled in comparison to similar platforms, such as Elon Musk's X — fell sharply this summer. — Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 10 Aug. 2026 The color of wine vinegar can change over time—red wine vinegar, for example, may pale or brown. — Jill Schildhouse, Southern Living, 25 July 2026
Noun
There were pale lime-skinned figs with lemon-yellow insides, mauve figs with strawberry insides, striped with pale-rose. — Angelica Calabrese, Longreads, 7 July 2026 And the idea that publicly supporting Obama is acceptable while publicly supporting Trump is somehow beyond the pale speaks to the double standard that critics like Clark continue to apply. — Bobby Burack Outkick, FOXNews.com, 29 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for pale
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pale
  1. faded
  2. pallid
  3. vague
  4. bleach
  5. wall
  6. light
  7. faint
  8. fade
Adjective
  • At the denouement, Kember is completely alone, his flat, narcotized baritone dripping onto the faded guitar notes like melted mercury.
    — Gabriel Szatan, Pitchfork, 18 Oct. 2026
  • The Fly Faster Tee uses heavyweight cotton jersey with a faded finish, while the Patch Tee receives a heavy enzyme wash.
    — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of faded
Adjective
  • The pallid grayness of Mike Eley’s cinematography is probably supposed to mimic the finality of HIV/AIDS taking hold, but there’s no passion aesthetically to counterbalance what becomes absolute misery onscreen to watch.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Young people in particular have soured on the technology over the last year, a development that may at least partially be explained by a pallid entry-level job market.
    — T.M. Brown, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of pallid
Adjective
  • Stipe added some vague details about the album’s politics (or lack thereof) as well.
    — Alex Suskind, Pitchfork, 13 Oct. 2026
  • After months of last-minute cancellations and vague statements about Mike Love‘s health, the Beach Boys returned to the stage Saturday night at Cincinnati’s PNC Pavilion for their first public show since July.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of vague
Verb
  • But their research findings could open the door to a new intervention to help corals recover from bleaching events.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Eco effort While over 80% of the reefs around the resort were bleached following the dramatic temperature rises of El Nino in 2016, the resort is throwing everything at its coral nursery and the green shoots are showing.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of bleach
Noun
  • The Kool-Aid man never comes crashing through the wall; there’s no cameo from Big Red’s kissing couple.
    — Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The bottom of the walls was damaged; these surfaces are not smooth and easily cleanable.
    — NWA Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of wall
Adjective
  • In modern nuclear weapons, conventional explosives set off a fission reaction—the splitting of big atoms—whose intensity then ignites a fusion reaction that combines light atoms.
    — Sarah Scoles, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Birkin asked her seatmate why the company didn’t yet make a handbag that was bigger than the Kelly, but smaller and lighter than the Hermès’s Haut à Courroies, which her ex Serge Gainsbourg had carried for years.
    — Marisa Meltzer, Vanity Fair, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of light
Adjective
  • While the planets in our solar system are still visible, sky glow obscures more distant objects, such as fainter stars.
    — Chris McMullen, Space.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Pulse, the faintest signal tested, produced 50 to 100 millivolts.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of faint
Verb
  • The film is set in Lucknow as the age of the nawabs (Muslim nobles) fades.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026
  • But that boom eventually faded, overwhelmed by larger forces including the rise of the regulatory state and increasingly generous government bailouts.
    — RUCHIR SHARMA, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of fade

Browse Nearby Words

palavers
pale
paled
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pale. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on pale

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about pale

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of jilt

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All