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pale1 definition

pale (pāl)

adjective paler pal′er, palest pal′·est

  1. of a whitish or colorless complexion; pallid; wan
  2. lacking intensity or brilliance: said of color, light, etc.; faint; dim
  3. feeble; weak a pale imitation

Etymology: OFr < L pallidus, pale: see fallow

intransitive verb paled, paling pal′·ing

  1. to become pale
  2. to seem weaker or less important

transitive verb

to make pale

Related Forms:

pale2 definition

pale (pāl)

noun

  1. a narrow, upright, pointed stake used in fences; picket
  2. a fence; enclosure; boundary; restriction: now chiefly figurative outside the pale of the law, beyond the pale (of respectability)
  3. a territory or district enclosed within bounds
  4. Bot. a chaffy bract or scale; esp., a bract at the base of a floret of a composite flower
  5. Heraldry a vertical band forming the middle third of a shield

Etymology: ME < MFr pal < L palus, a stake < IE base *pak-, to fasten (as by ramming into the ground) > Gr passalos, a peg, stake, L pax, peace

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms pale idiom

pale Synonyms

pale

modif.

  1. Wan

    pallid, wan, ashen, ashy, pasty, waxen, sickly, anemic, colorless, bloodless, livid, ghastly, cadaverous, haggard, deathlike, ghostly, spectral, white, gray, sallow, etiolated, blanched, whey-faced, drained, peaked, washed-out*, white as a sheet*, green around the gills*.

  2. Lacking color or intensity

    bleached, light, pastel, soft, soft-hued, creamy, whitish, dim, faint, faded, feeble, chalky, washed-out.

pale, in this comparison the least connotative of these words, implies merely an unnatural whiteness or colorlessness, often temporary, of the complexion; pallid suggests a paleness resulting from exhaustion, faintness, emotional strain, etc.; wan suggests the paleness resulting from an emaciating illness; ashen implies the grayish paleness of the skin as in death; livid refers to a grayish-blue complexion, as of one in great rage or fear, but is also sometimes used now of a white or red complexion


pale

v.

grow pale, lose color, blanch; see faint, whiten 1.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

pale Usage Examples

Preposition: as

  • ghost: Every time the film goes back to England we are met by a dreary world with pompous nobles and pale as a ghost Kate.

Preposition: into

  • insignificance: Our sins whatever they may be, pale into insignificance compared to His own.

Adjective modifier

  • deathly: He was deathly pale, yet he seemed fired with a hope; his eyes shone.

Modifies a noun

  • imitation: Now renamed simply Hancock, the season was overall a pale imitation of its former glory.

Used with adjective complement

  • turn: His face turned pale, he was struggling for air.

Preposition: in

  • comparison: The level of violence still pales in comparison to the carnage of the turf wars between rival crack gangs a decade ago.

Preposition: by

  • comparison: Every joy I had known was pale by comparison.
pale usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

pale quotes

Were you with these, my prince, you'd soon forget The pale, unripened beauties of the north.

-Addison,Joseph

He kissed the hand and by the hand led And to his mother brought, Who in sorrow pale, through the lonely dale, Her little boy weeping sought.

-Blake,William

It is upon those who say that it is necessary to exclude forty-nine fiftieths of the working classes [from the vote] toshowcause, and Iventuretosay that every manwho is not presumably incapacitated by some consideration of personal unfitness or of political danger, is morally entitled to come within the pale of the Constitution.

-Gladstone,W(illiam) E(wart)

pale quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"pale." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/pale>

APA Style

pale. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/pale

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