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
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.
Fauvism soon faded, but color—bold, brilliant hues—remained among his hallmarks as he grew to become one of the 20th century’s greatest artists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
He said in a statement that he had been "astonished that such an important story had largely faded from public memory".
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
For all its immortal ideas and all those outsized news reports of people fainting, “The Exorcist” could’ve faded from memory if so much of what came after didn’t prove to be a cheap imitation.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Witkoff has become so ubiquitous in international transactions that his role as the co-founder of Trump’s business has all but faded into the gilt wallpaper of the Oval Office.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
Everything that once had color is faded, like a vintage Instagram filter.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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.
