ashen

[ash-uhn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ashen ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

ash-colored; gray.

extremely pale; drained of color; pallid: His face was ashen.

consisting of ashes.

Origin of ashen

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at ash¹, -en²

Synonyms for ashen

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ashen ON THESAURUS.COM

1. ashy. 2. pasty, colorless.

ashen

[ash-uh n]

adjective

pertaining to the ash tree or its timber.

made of wood from the ash tree.

Origin of ashen

before 1000; Middle English, Old English; see ash², -en²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ashen

anemic, blanched, cadaverous, colorless, ghastly, gray, leaden, pale, pallid, pasty, sallow, wan, white

Examples from the Web for ashen

Contemporary Examples of ashen

They forecast an endless and ashen winter for the country that began as a brilliant idea.
Richard Hofstadter and America’s New Wave of Anti-Intellectualism
David Masciotra
March 9, 2014
Jerry Sandusky was alert but ashen as he stood at the defense table to hear his fate.
Sandusky Guilty Verdict: What's Next for Jerry
Diane Dimond
June 23, 2012
When the ashen Silda Spitzer appeared with her husband Eliot, it was the last straw.
Weinergate: Men Will Always Cheat
Kay Hymowitz
June 17, 2011

Historical Examples of ashen

Slowly, faintly, the colour crept back into that ashen face.
Captain Blood
Rafael Sabatini
From red that she had been, she was now ashen under her rouge.
The Lion's Skin
Rafael Sabatini
She stared at him with an ashen face and gulped twice before she could speak.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle
At noon there was no sunshine, only a wan, ashen light that suffused the sky.
The Trail of '98
Robert W. Service
My face must have been ashen, for Sam put a hand on my shoulder.
The Pirate of Panama
William MacLeod Raine

British Dictionary definitions for ashen

ashen

adjective

drained of colour; pallid

consisting of or resembling ashes

of a pale greyish colour

ashen

adjective

of, relating to, or made from the ash tree or its timber

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ashen

adj.

"made of ash wood," c.1300; see ash (n.2) + -en (2); meaning "ash-colored, whitish-gray, deadly pale" is 1808, from ash (n.1).