faded
Americanadjective
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having lost brightness, intensity, volume, etc., as of light, color, or sound.
She was wearing a faded polyester skirt.
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having lost freshness, vigor, strength, or health.
Regular removal of faded flowers is often needed to keep annuals blooming.
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having gradually disappeared or died out.
The movie’s main theme is the resuscitation of faded love.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of faded
Explanation
Faded things have lost the bright color they once had. Your faded jeans, once dark blue but now pale and worn, might be your favorite thing to wear. Clothes become faded after being worn and washed again and again, and in many places the landscape itself seems faded in the wintertime, all dull grays and pale browns. Strength, energy, or vitality can also become faded, like a boxer toward the end of a long match. The Old French root of faded is fader, "become weak," from fade, "weak, pale, or insipid."
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.
But these revitalized Knicks—for decades themselves a Schadenfreudist’s delight, a faded franchise with crabby ownership and aggrieved fans—are giving even skeptical out-of-towners a case of the Manhattan warm ’n’ fuzzies.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
The chip maker’s initial gains early this week on the back of the unveiling of its RTX Spark processor for the consumer PC market have faded.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
Through stained-glass windows you can peer into the Victoria Baths and see the faded grandeur of a public pool Mancunians enjoyed for nearly a century - but you won't see any water in it now.
From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026
While horses near the front early faded late, the 1-2-3 finishers all trailed by at least a dozen lengths after the first half-mile.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2026
When the last dazzling display of fireworks faded from the sky, the crowd carried paper lanterns to the banks of the Ohta River.
From "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr
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.
