fade
/feɪd
/verb [no object]
1Gradually grow faint and disappear: the light had faded and dusk was advancing the noise faded away figurative hopes of peace had faded...
- The dream was quickly fading from memory as his stomach growled for attention.
- Had cotton not been so in demand and so crucial to the prosperity of the nation and Europe, slavery might have faded rather than growing stronger.
- From the interior of a car, the condensation on the windshield gradually fades away, revealing a better picture of the landscape outside.
Synonyms
dim, grow dim, grow faint, grow feeble, fail, dwindle, grow less, die away, wane, disappear, vanish, decline, dissolve, peter out, melt away, evanesce
1.1Lose or cause to lose colour or brightness: [no object]: his fair hair had faded to a dusty grey [with object]: (usually as adjective faded) faded jeans...
- Shock and remorse showed there, the pink in his cheeks fading to a pale colour I had never seen on him before.
- However tattoos usually fade over time, making them illegible.
- As a result, some parts of his pictures are bathed in soft light while others fade into gentle dusk.
Synonyms
become pale, grow pale, pale, become bleached, become washed out, lose colour, decolour, decolorize, discolour;
dull, dim, grow dull, grow dim, lose lustre
bleach, wash out, make pale, decolour, decolorize, blanch, whiten;
dull, discolour, dim, etiolate
1.2(Of a flower) lose freshness and wither.After the flowers of spring bulbs fade, the remaining foliage is left to wilt and die back....
- ‘I will record the whole process, as these lotus seed pods fade, wither, and dry up,’ Wang said.
- People often wonder what to do when tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, Easter lilies, and other spring-blooming bulb flowers have faded.
Synonyms
wither, wilt, droop, shrivel, decay, die, perish
technical become marcescent
rare etiolate
1.3 (fade away) (Of a person) gradually become thin and weak, especially to the point of death: without help, those of us who are ill will surely fade away and die...
- As Nariman gradually fades away into the passive state of the bedridden invalid, the novel places Yezad on center stage.
- It is painful to see such infants gradually fading away over a number of weeks or months, when everybody hopes for a speedy end.
- Seeing a man cry like that, I could not control myself and my partner faded away behind the fall of my own tears.
1.4(Of a racehorse, runner, etc.) lose strength and cease to perform well: she faded near the finish...
- The John Gosden-trained colt took up the lead coming into the home straight but faded in the final furlong.
- John Gosden's French 1,000 Guineas winner Zenda flattered briefly in the straight but faded to finish last of the 15 runners.
- The early pacesetter faded to last, and Regal Thunder ran on to finish second.
1.5(Of a vehicle brake) become temporarily less efficient as a result of frictional heating: the brakes faded, needing a firmer push to bring the car to halt...
- Their brakes fade, clutches burn and chassis flex; they dig in, roll around and break traction at absurdly low speeds, but with great drama.
- It was only in the closing stages when Paul's brakes faded slightly that he had to back off the chase.
- The brakes are easy to handle and get a hard grip, even after a few hard braking sessions no fading is apparent.
2 [with adverbial] (With reference to film and television images) come or cause to come gradually into or out of view, or to merge into another shot: [no object]: fade into scenes of rooms strewn with festive remains [with object]: some shots have to be faded in...
- And when the film's final scene fades to black, you will be even more eager to see how Batman Continues.
- In fact, the extra content is what sticks to my mind now, while the film itself is fading to a pleasantly dissonant collection of images and emotions.
- They change pace through fading montages of static images.
2.1(With reference to recorded sound) increase or decrease in volume or merge into another recording: [no object]: they let you edit the digital data, making it fade in and out [with object]: he skilfully fades the guitar lines up and down...
- The sound is fading in and out, when the record is interrupted with news of an imminent tornado heading for Kansas.
- In "Safe Return", high-pitched strings fade in as if the birds fly highly to the sky.
- You can have the sound fade in and fade out or adjust the volume as necessary.
3 Golf (Of the ball) deviate to the right (or, for a left-handed golfer, the left), typically as a result of spin given to the ball: the ball faded toward an area left of the green...
- Logic prevailed, I followed his advice, and the ball faded beautifully onto the green, just as he had predicted.
- McTeirnan was desperately unlucky with the conversion with the ball fading to the right and wide from a difficult angle.
- The ball will slice or fade, but by opening the clubface you are adding loft to the club, which will produce a higher-trajectory ball flight.
3.1 [with object] (Of a golfer) cause (the ball) to deviate: he had to fade the ball around a light pole...
- Pohl once was the longest hitter on tour, even though he faded the ball.
- If you can predictably draw or fade the ball, you'll hit more fairways, because you effectively double the size of your target.
- It was Demaret who influenced Hogan to weaken his grip and fade the ball, probably saving Hogan's career.
4 [with object] North American informal (In craps) match the bet of (another player): Lovejoy faded him for twenty-five cents...
- Hopefully he faded the bet in Vegas and walked away a winner tonight.
- If the cards miss out (lose), the players who faded the center bet each receive back their money together with the equivalent amount of the center bet.
noun
1 [mass noun] The process of becoming less bright: the sun can cause colour fade...
- One reason behind the evening news fade is that it's still scheduled for an era when moms stayed at home and cooked for dad, who didn't have a long commute.
- Carpenter's late-season fade and Pettitte's fine second half helped sort out the runners-up.
- Life, death, bloom and fade are intimately coupled.
1.1 [count noun] An act of causing a film or television image to darken and disappear gradually: a fade to black would bring the sequence to a close...
- In the earlier film, a cut or a fade to black made minutes or even hours disappear.
- However, all of these points of constancy and change are brought to light for the most part due to the extreme redundancy of the film's fades and the organisational role they play.
- His use of split screen and fade through flashbacks is so imaginative that there are moments when the film is artistically stimulating.
2 Golf A shot causing the ball to deviate to the right (or, for a left-handed golfer, the left): when they get to the 18th the ideal shot is a fade...
- I hit a few hooks, slices, low shots and high fades.
- Trying to hit a draw when your usual ball flight is a fade increases your tension level, making a hard shot that much harder.
- Many good players feel they control the ball better with a fade.
2.1 American Football A pass thrown so that the ball descends directly over the receiver’s shoulder, especially as they veer towards the sideline: shortly after receiving the snap, he threw a fade to Crabtree [as modifier]: he scores on a beautiful fade pass to the back of the end zone
Derivatives
fadeless
/ adjective ...- She is worthy of a fadeless rose in the bouquet of our history.
- The variety of papers is astounding: fadeless colored papers; glossy, metallic or velour papers; rice papers; textured handmade papers; perforated or marbleized papers and more.
Origin
Middle English (in the sense 'grow weak'): from Old French fader, from fade 'dull, insipid', probably based on a blend of Latin fatuus 'silly, insipid' and vapidus 'vapid'.
The early sense of fade was ‘grow weak, waste away’. The word comes from Old French fade ‘dull, insipid’, probably a blend of Latin fatuus ‘silly, insipid’ (source of E17th fatuous), and vapidus ‘vapid’ (see vapour). The sense ‘lose freshness’ (faded colours) developed in English alongside the meaning ‘lose strength’.