- present participle of shade.
shading
Americannoun
-
a slight variation or difference of color, character, etc.
-
the act of a person or thing that shades.
-
the representation of the different values of color or light and dark in a painting or drawing.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of shading
Vocabulary lists containing shading
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Our buildings in this country weren't designed for the climate now and in future - unlike schools in Europe or Africa that have designed shading into their buildings," she says.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
CALI, Colombia—This tropical city is known for the vibrant salsa music pulsating through its nightlife and the stately samán trees shading narrow streets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
On the sidewalk outside a charging station in downtown Abuja, women shading themselves with umbrellas sell mangoes and peanuts steps away from a Tesla Cybertruck.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
Plants with steeper, more upright leaves were able to rise above neighboring plants during early growth stages, capturing more sunlight while shading out competitors below.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 8, 2026
But soon more clouds filled the sky, shading Stanley and his hole.
From "Holes" by Louis Sachar
By contrast, the frequently angry and bitter Saul at least has the kind of shadings that make him a worthy frenemy, and “David” could have mined more conflict from the relationship between the two.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025
Writer/director Martin McDonagh creates a world on that island, and the actors give a master class in character; particularly Farrell, who finds infinite shadings of gentle heartbreak.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
“Now and then, the listener became dimly aware of articulation, accentuation, stress or color shadings, but these nuances were so inextricably tied up with the words that such distinctions could not make themselves felt.”
From Washington Post ● May 16, 2022
The variety of his articulations and shadings was especially fine: sometimes crisp and sparkling, other times milky and subdued, as when the piano part shifts into wistful, minor-mode excursions during the sunny first movement.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2021
During this period the shadings and nuances which were filling in Bigger’s picture came, not so much from Negro life, as from the lives of whites I met and grew to know.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
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.
