light-colored or lacking in color: a pale complexion; his pale face; a pale child.
lacking the usual intensity of color due to fear, illness, stress, etc.:She looked pale and unwell when we visited her in the nursing home.
of a low degree of chroma, saturation, or purity; approaching white or gray: pale yellow.
not bright or brilliant; dim: the pale moon.
faint or feeble; lacking vigor: a pale protest.
verb (used without object),paled,pal·ing.
to become pale: to pale at the sight of blood.
to seem less important, remarkable, etc., especially when compared with something else: Platinum is so rare that even gold pales in comparison.
verb (used with object)
to make pale.
Origin of pale
1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin pallidus;see origin at pallid
SYNONYMS FOR pale
5 blanch, lose color.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR pale ON THESAURUS.COM
ANTONYMS FOR pale
1 ruddy.
5 darken.
SEE ANTONYMS FOR pale ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for pale
1. Pale, pallid, wan imply an absence of color, especially from the human countenance. Pale implies a faintness or absence of color, which may be natural when applied to things, the pale blue of a violet, but when used to refer to the human face usually means an unnatural and often temporary absence of color, as arising from sickness or sudden emotion: pale cheeks.Pallid , limited mainly to the human countenance, implies an excessive paleness induced by intense emotion, disease, or death: the pallid lips of the dying man.Wan implies a sickly paleness, as after a long illness: wan and thin; the suggestion of weakness may be more prominent than that of lack of color: a wan smile.
limits; bounds: outside the pale of his jurisdiction.
a district or region within designated bounds.
(initial capital letter)
Also called Eng·lish Pale[ing-glish peyl], /ˈɪŋ glɪʃ ˈpeɪl/, I·rish Pale[ahy-rish peyl] /ˈaɪ rɪʃ ˈpeɪl/ .a district in eastern Ireland included in the Angevin Empire of King Henry II and his successors.
Also called Pale of Set·tle·ment[peyluhv set-l-muhnt] /ˈpeɪl əv ˈsɛt l mənt/ .the territories in the Russian Empire in which Jews were allowed to live.
Heraldry. an ordinary in the form of a broad vertical stripe at the center of an escutcheon.
Shipbuilding. a shore used inside to support the deck beams of a hull under construction.
verb (used with object),paled,pal·ing.
to enclose with pales; fence.
to encircle or encompass.
Origin of pale
2
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English pal(e), paele, from Old French pal, pel “stake,” from Latin pālus “wooden pole, wooden peg, stake”; see origin at peel3;see also pole1
Better surface disinfection, however, increasingly pales next to worries about air quality on passenger flights.
American Airlines touts a new tool to combat COVID. But does it really make flying safer?|dzanemorris|August 24, 2020|Fortune
Simon says the 2008 financial meltdown “pales in comparison” to the pandemic.
America’s Largest Shopping Mall Owner Gets a New Tenant: Itself|Daniel Malloy|August 20, 2020|Ozy
Though Encantos raised a fresh $2 million in January to expand, that cash influx pales in comparison to the budgets at top ed-tech companies Newsela and Coursera, which have each received more than $50 million in funding.
Your Kids Need a Dose of Bilingual Culture? He Can Help|Nick Fouriezos|August 9, 2020|Ozy
On the other hand, VR technologies perhaps only offer a pale imitation of the multi-sensory experiences of life.
Virtual Reality Has Been Boosted by Coronavirus—Here’s How to Avoid It Leading Us to Dystopia|Alexandros Skandalis|June 24, 2020|Singularity Hub
The Genoa museum’s dead specimen is pale blue due to preservation, but it’s now known that the lizard’s natural color is mostly luminous green.
A nose-horned dragon lizard lost to science for over 100 years has been found|Dyna Rochmyaningsih|June 9, 2020|Science News
The pale, baby-faced, red-cheeked rapper is furiously puffing away at a hastily-made blunt crammed with low-grade weed.
The Cult of Yung Lean: ‘I’m Building An Anarchistic Society From the Ground Up’|Marlow Stern|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But the flaws and peccadilloes of Renaissance artists like Michelangelo pale beside the misdeeds of patrons and pontiffs.
Great Renaissance Art Thrived Amid Filth|Nick Romeo|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Still, at each stage of jazz history certain kinds of sounds were beyond the pale.
The Stacks: John Coltrane’s Mighty Musical Quest|Nat Hentoff|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She led a reliably epic and wild life, powered by a brand of comedy that regarded nothing as beyond the pale.
What Joan Rivers Said She Would Do If She Were Dictator of America|Asawin Suebsaeng|September 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
With her cascade of red, twirling hair and pale, fine-boned face.
Murdoch on the Rocks: How a Lone Reporter Revealed the Mogul's Tabloid Terror Machine|Clive Irving|August 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
"I thank you," said Johanna, and for an instant her pale face glowed with the same fire which had distinguished her father.
A Noble Name|Claire Von Glmer
She made desperate efforts to control her grief, and conceal the tears that rolled in quick succession down her pale cheeks.
Flora Lyndsay|Susanna Moodie
The grey light of dawn faintly illumined this scene of carnage, and its pale, cold gleams mingled with the ruddy glow of the fire.
Annals of a Fortress|E. Viollet-le-Duc
His face was drawn and pale, and it was obvious that his coordination wasn't very good.
The Electronic Mind Reader|John Blaine
Its petals are loose and thin, and of a pale primrose colour, and before it is fully out it is at its best.
A Year in a Lancashire Garden|Henry Arthur Bright
British Dictionary definitions for pale (1 of 2)
pale1
/ (peɪl) /
adjective
lacking brightness of colour; whitishpale morning light
(of a colour) whitish; produced by a relatively small quantity of colouring agent
dim or wanthe pale stars
feeblea pale effort
Southern African a euphemism for White
verb
to make or become pale or paler; blanch
(intr often foll by before) to lose superiority or importance (in comparison to)her beauty paled before that of her hostess
Derived forms of pale
palely, adverbpaleness, noun
Word Origin for pale
C13: from Old French palle, from Latin pallidus pale, from pallēre to look wan
British Dictionary definitions for pale (2 of 2)
pale2
/ (peɪl) /
noun
a wooden post or strip used as an upright member in a fence
an enclosing barrier, esp a fence made of pales
an area enclosed by a pale
a sphere of activity within which certain restrictions are applied
heraldryan ordinary consisting of a vertical stripe, usually in the centre of a shield
beyond the paleoutside the limits of social convention
verb
(tr)to enclose with pales
Word Origin for pale
C14: from Old French pal, from Latin pālus stake; compare pole1