the brown color imparted to the skin by exposure to the sun or open air.
yellowish brown; light brown.
of the color of tan; yellowish-brown.
used in or relating to tanning processes, materials, etc.
the brown colour produced by the skin after intensive exposure to ultraviolet rays, esp those of the sun
a light or moderate yellowish-brown colour
short for tanbark
to go brown or cause to go brown after exposure to ultraviolet rays
she tans easily
to convert (a skin or hide) into leather by treating it with a tanning agent, such as vegetable tannins, chromium salts, fish oils, or formaldehyde
slang (tr) to beat or flog
of the colour tan
tan gloves
used in or relating to tanning
First recorded before 1000; 1920–25 tan 1 for def. 2; Middle English tannen “to make hide into leather,” late Old English tannian (only in past participle getanned ), from Medieval Latin tannāre, derivative of tannum “oak bark, tanbark,” from Germanic; compare Old High German tanna “oak, fir,” akin to Dutch den “fir”
By shortening
Tan is a light brown color you might also call "beige." If you want to brighten up your bedroom, you can paint your boring tan walls with green, yellow, and hot pink stripes. Some people who spend a lot of time outside in the sun end up with a tan, a darker skin tone than they usually have. The verb tan means to deliberately soak up the sun in the hopes of getting a tan. You can also use tan as a verb to describe the process of making leather from animal skins: "Then I'll tan the deer hide by soaking it in this solution."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Wearing a tan jumpsuit, he read a prepared statement in Spanish in which he extraordinarily urged young people to turn away from violence.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
To the west in Duarte, an old tan rotary phone with a very long cord hangs on a tree in a garden.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
Some attendees even paid tribute to one of the most famous footnotes of Obama’s presidency by wearing tan suits, a lighthearted nod to the outfit that once sparked outsized political controversy.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
Blue entered the lineup decades later, after 10 million consumers voted for it to replace the tan M&M, over purple or pink.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
It was dark and tan from hours in the sun.
From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor
Still, Barclays economist Brian Tan expects it to be a close call, with the risk of a 50 basis point increase to the policy band slope to be relatively high.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
“Our Q2 results represent our strongest revenue growth in more than fifteen years,” said Intel’s Chief Executive, Lip-Bu Tan, in a statement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
University of Southern California undergraduate student Anyi Tan contributed to this research.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Retail investors have been caught up in the excitement, which has been fuelled by social media and marketing efforts to draw non-professionals, says Glenn Tan from advisory firm Providend.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
At the first corner, they met Mr. Tan.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
SolarEdge Technologies has gained 130% over the past year and shows a bullish falling wedge pattern against the TAN ETF.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
She and her colleagues will now examine whether targeting the inflammatory factors and cellular interactions that induce TAN immunosuppression can help improve brain tumor responses to immunotherapy.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2023
SAN TAN VALLEY, Ariz. — Buffeted by rising costs and declining interest from golfers, the Links at Queen Creek course closed two years ago after 26 years of operation.
From New York Times ● May 24, 2022
Evaluating a tangent function with a scientific calculator as opposed to a graphing calculator or computer algebra system is like evaluating a sine or cosine: Enter the value and press the TAN key.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015
It is invaluable for TAN, FRECKLES, SUNBURN, Etc., and is a perfect hygienic safeguard against cutaneous disorders.
From Intestinal Ills Chronic Constipation, Indigestion, Autogenetic Poisons, Diarrhea, Piles, Etc. Also Auto-Infection, Auto-Intoxication, Anemia, Emaciation, Etc. Due to Proctitis and Colitis by Jamison, Alcinous B. (Alcinous Burton)
She told her hospital consultant, who asked where she had bought the tanner and what was in it.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2025
Bong has given the leader TV aspirations; the makeup team has given him orange tanner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2025
He was also tanner and had shaved his head.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2023
Also on Monday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced a small Bering Sea crab harvest of more than 2 million pounds of tanner crab will open Oct.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 10, 2022
Panicked and exhausted, I had scattershot visions of the widow and my almond tree, the tanner, and the monks of my old village so far away.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
Sen. Rick Scott will face off against one of Florida’s tannest mothers in the GOP primary this election cycle.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 17, 2023
Q: Is Sutter the tannest man in sports?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2014
ET – with Queens local and President Donald Trump set to enter this haven of Hamptons tans and Honey Deuce buzzes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2025
Pumped-up lips, spray tans, hollowed-out cheeks and false lashes are just some of the characteristics of the “Mar-a-Lago face” that Donald Trump adores in his women.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2025
“I haven’t had to alter my body in that way,” says Strong, who underwent a doctor-supervised “starvation diet” and a regimen of tanning booth visits and biweekly spray tans to match Cohn’s notoriously leathery look.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2024
“I wasn’t burned out, I was maxed out in the experience,” Mr. Clinton said while sitting in his Upper East Side Manhattan apartment, decorated in soothing creams, tans, beiges and other neutral colors.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2024
I don’t see them, but I see that half the kids have tans from spring break.
From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
To the looksmaxxers, these peptides aren’t about health; they’re for shedding fat, building muscle, clearing up skin, and even getting tanned.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026
NANTUCKET, Mass.—On a recent morning, a tanned Dave Portnoy appeared to be living his best rich-guy life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Within minutes of the announcement, memories of the elegant and tanned designer began to flood social media.
From Barron's ● Jan. 19, 2026
He was tall, tanned, wearing shorts and flip-flops, and cracking jokes before even saying hello.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2025
It doesn’t matter if she’s pale or tanned, if her hair is black or brown or red or blond.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
Who needs umbrellas when you’ve got a tanning bed, a chin-up bar, beef-tallow stockpiles, and a gallon of only-sometimes-poisonous raw milk?
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
WSJ | Buy Side: Get a summertime glow, no matter the season, with these expert-recommended tanning mousses, sprays and drops.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
They also proposed displaying cigarette-style images at sunbed shops and tanning salons to dissuade people from using them.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
He did, however, quickly stop using MT-II, the tanning peptide that years ago was dubbed the “Barbie peptide.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
Gasoline was rationed, and the lines of automobiles could last two days and a night, constricting the city like a gigantic motionless boa tanning itself in the sun.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
