pale

¹ American  

[payl] / peɪl /

adjective

• paler,
  comparative
• palest
  superlative

1. (of a person or a person's skin)

   1. light-colored or lacking in color.

      a pale complexion; his pale face; a pale child.

   2. lacking the usual intensity of color due to fear, illness, stress, etc..

      She looked pale and unwell when we visited her in the nursing home.

   Antonyms:

   ruddy

2. of a low degree of chroma, saturation, or purity; approaching white or gray.

   pale yellow.

3. not bright or brilliant; dim.

   the pale moon.

4. faint or feeble; lacking vigor.

   a pale protest.

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verb (used without object)

paled, paling

1. to become pale.

   to pale at the sight of blood.

   Synonyms:

   fade, whiten, blench, blanch

   Antonyms:

   deepen

2. to seem less important, remarkable, etc., especially when compared with something else.

   Platinum is so rare that even gold pales in comparison.

verb (used with object)

1. to make pale.

pale ² American  

[payl] / peɪl /

noun

• pales
  plural

1. a stake or picket, as of a fence.

2. an enclosing or confining barrier; enclosure.

3. an enclosed area.

4. limits; bounds.

   outside the pale of his jurisdiction.

5. a district or region within designated bounds.

6. (initial capital letter)

   1. Also called Irish Pale, English Pale. a district in eastern Ireland included in the Angevin Empire of King Henry II and his successors.

   2. Also called Pale of Settlement. the territories in the Russian Empire in which Jews were allowed to live.

7. Heraldry. an ordinary in the form of a broad vertical stripe at the center of an escutcheon.

8. Shipbuilding. a shore used inside to support the deck beams of a hull under construction.

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verb (used with object)

paled, paling

1. to enclose with pales; fence.

2. to encircle or encompass.

idioms

1. beyond the pale, beyond the limits of proper behavior, courtesy, protection, safety, etc..

   Their public comments are certainly beyond the pale.

pale ¹ British  

/ peɪl /

adjective

1. lacking brightness of colour; whitish

   pale morning light

2. (of a colour) whitish; produced by a relatively small quantity of colouring agent

3. dim or wan

   the pale stars

4. feeble

   a pale effort

5. a euphemism for White

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verb

1. to make or become pale or paler; blanch

2. to lose superiority or importance (in comparison to)

   her beauty paled before that of her hostess

pale ² British  

/ peɪl /

noun

1. a wooden post or strip used as an upright member in a fence

2. an enclosing barrier, esp a fence made of pales

3. an area enclosed by a pale

4. a sphere of activity within which certain restrictions are applied

5. heraldry an ordinary consisting of a vertical stripe, usually in the centre of a shield

6. outside the limits of social convention

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verb

1. (tr) to enclose with pales

pale More Idioms  

1. see beyond the pale.

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Synonym Usage

Pale, pallid, wan imply an absence of color, especially from the human countenance. Pale implies a faintness or absence of color, which may be natural when applied to things, the pale blue of a violet, but when used to refer to the human face usually means an unnatural and often temporary absence of color, as arising from sickness or sudden emotion: pale cheeks. Pallid , limited mainly to the human countenance, implies an excessive paleness induced by intense emotion, disease, or death: the pallid lips of the dying man. Wan implies a sickly paleness, as after a long illness: wan and thin; the suggestion of weakness may be more prominent than that of lack of color: a wan smile.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• paleness
  noun
• palely
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pales
  plural

Adjectives

• paler
  comparative
• palest
  superlative

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Etymology

Origin of pale¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin pallidus pallid

Origin of pale²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English pal(e), paele, from Old French pal, pel “stake,” from Latin pālus “wooden pole, wooden peg, stake”; see origin at peel ³; see also pole ¹ ( def. )

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Explanation

After a long summer in the pool and the bright sun, your favorite rainbow-colored beach swimsuit will probably end up pale and faded. Pale means "having little color." When something's light colored, you can describe it as pale, like a pale light shining in the kitchen at night, or a person's pale face when they're suffering from the flu. Pale is also a verb that means "to become pale," so you could say that you saw your friend's face pale at the news that her favorite bakery had gone out of business. Don't make the mistake of confusing pale with its homophone, pail, which means "bucket."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pale pales paler palest paled paling

Their luminous, pale surfaces are covered in geometric markings that could be a lost version of cuneiform, and the objects’ irregular edges bring to mind a puzzle long ago disassembled and dispersed to far-flung locales.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

A Groatie Buckie is a small, pale pink and white shell found on beaches across Orkney, which in local tradition brings good luck and fortune to the keeper.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

As a result, clouds that look pale yellow from far away could contain liquid that appears surprisingly dark when concentrated.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

We ate thick slices with cold salted butter — not so much smeared across the crumb as laid on in pale slabs, because patience has never been a prerequisite for breakfast.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026

But then he saw the pale light that streamed into the cave through the hole in the snow wall and became aware of the silence.

From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda

Even with Wednesday's jump, growth in the company's share price has trailed other chip companies in recent months and pales in comparison to the stratospheric leaps in 2023 that followed the launch of ChatGPT.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

But this strategy pales in comparison to what’s possible with the newest legislation.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 9, 2026

Worldwide, the number of equine clones born a year pales in comparison to traditionally-bred horses, but those clones—and their offspring—are starting to emerge in the top echelons of different equestrian disciplines.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026

Matthew Murphy, representing Stewart Jones, said his client had showed "genuine, wholehearted remorse" but his financial gain "pales in comparison".

From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026

It’s still dark, but the eastern sky pales, and Veturius speeds his gait.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

In general, leopards living in open habitats tend to be larger and paler, while those in forested areas are often smaller and darker.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026

He withholds his approval to keep the paler, smaller man anxious.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2026

A light sprinkling of coarse brown sugar or coconut sugar right before serving looks pretty against the paler shade of the top layer, but, honestly, this cheesecake is ready, set, go straight from the refrigerator.

From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024

As a result, Colin, who wore paler shades such as baby blue in the earlier episodes, is seen in much more striking hues this time around, such as navy blues and browns.

From BBC ● May 15, 2024

I flicked my eyes between my mom’s disapproving face and Salzburg’s, which was looking a lot paler than it had a moment ago.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

“It was important to figure out where those bright pinks would live alongside our palest, pastel pink and, of course, every tone of pink in between,” Gerwig says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2024

These cookies bake to a beautiful toasty color and are topped with an artful smear of the palest pastel icing that is lightning-fast to whip up.

From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2022

They sound almost like characters in a fairy tale when the narrator claims, “The faintest hint of affection, the palest expression of warmth, was enough to make each Oppenheimer triplet recoil.”

From Washington Post ● May 31, 2022

My daughter, Marlow, is the palest person in the family by a standard deviation, and Valentine and I are preoccupied with preventing her from burning.

From New York Times ● Sep. 17, 2019

First the sky turned the palest green-blue at the horizon, like the bottom of a petal.

From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer

Some guests said security protocols paled in comparison to the security screenings that VIPs faced when they went to exclusive after-dinner parties on Saturday night.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026

The Quigleys fell in love with southern Georgia, but the schooling options there paled in comparison with what they found across the border in Florida.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026

Microsoft Azure’s 39% cloud growth in the fourth quarter paled in comparison to Google Cloud’s 48% growth, and investors were displeased by Microsoft’s decision to allocate more computing power to internal projects.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 24, 2026

But the harm caused by those excesses, Jacoby said, paled in comparison to the good that had been done by opening up the legal system to everyday people.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2026

The Arctic accomplishments of Dr. Kane paled next to the battlefield heroism of Civil War soldiers.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

That said, the approach adds texture to a film set during Carnival, the festival’s vibrancy paling in comparison to the creative exuberance on display.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2025

What, you might ask, prompted this remark from the paling former personality?

From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2023

But each of those fines was for just $6,949, paling in comparison to what Metcalf received for the incident with Baynes, and speaking to how the NFL views any verbal offenses directed at officials.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2022

Free agency is in its infancy in MLS, paling in the impact and intrigue that grips the NBA, NFL and MLB.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 1, 2019

Every now and then I would grab the paling of one of the picket fences lining the street to steady myself against the wind.

From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson

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