pastel

[ pa-stel; especially British pas-tl ]

/ pæˈstɛl; especially British ˈpæs tl /

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See synonyms for: pastel / pastels on Thesaurus.com

noun

a color having a soft, subdued shade.

a kind of dried paste made of pigments ground with chalk and compounded with gum water.

a chalklike crayon made from such paste.

the art of drawing with such crayons.

a drawing so made.

a short, light prose study or sketch.

adjective

having a soft, subdued shade.

drawn with pastels: a pastel portrait.

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Origin of pastel

First recorded in 1610–20; from French, from Italian pastello, from Late Latin pastellus, variant of Latin pastillus pastille

Words nearby pastel

pasta, past continuous, paste, pasteboard, pastedown, pastel, pastelist, pastel orange, paste mold, paste-on, paster

Other definitions for pastel (2 of 2)

pastel²

[ pas-tel ]

/ ˈpæs tɛl /

noun

the woad plant.

the dye made from it.

Origin of pastel

First recorded in 1570–80; from Middle French pastel “woad,” from Provençal, from Medieval Latin pastellum (neuter) “woad” (originally “woad paste”), for Late Latin pastellus (masculine), diminutive of pasta paste

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pastel in a sentence

Instead of just using Amazon to buy another pastel daily planner dotted with flowers from Blue Sky, a company run by two men, I spent twice as much to buy one directly from Bloom Daily Planners, a company founded and run by women.
I Tried to Live Off Women-Owned Businesses. Turns Out, Men Still Run Everything|Alana Semuels|July 21, 2021|Time
It’s been roughly 80 years since the Xerces blue butterfly was last spotted flitting about on pastel wings across coastal California sand dunes.
This butterfly is the first U.S. insect known to go extinct because of people|Jake Buehler|July 20, 2021|Science News
That’s slightly less remarkable in the case of McGinley, a Pennsylvania pastel artist whose drawings are at Martha Spak Gallery alongside Erin Raedeke’s still lifes.
In the galleries: An intimate panorama of video art’s variety and breadth|Mark Jenkins|June 25, 2021|Washington Post
Aesthetically, everything from her album cover to her Instagram is a nod to her age, a slew of pastel colors and cooler-than-you photo shoots that show off her trendy fashion sense.
How Olivia Rodrigo Became America’s Biggest New Pop Star|Raisa Bruner|May 24, 2021|Time

The figures in the Athenaeum show, drawn with pastel and pencil and supplemented by paint, are loose yet realistic.
In the galleries: Artists sport their chops with prints on the cutting edge|Mark Jenkins|March 19, 2021|Washington Post
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West awkwardly embrace in color-coordinated pastel suits for their re-imagined Vogue cover.
Artist Gives Celebs the ‘Natural’ Look|Justin Jones|July 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The pastel outdoor furnishings look like leftovers from a closed nursery school, while inside collared shirts seem overdressed.
Adventures in Miami’s Coolest South Beach Alternative|The Daily Beast|July 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Thorns support is for everyone, and there are no pastel colors or condescending cursive.
Portland Is Ground Zero for the Best Women’s Soccer in the World|Evelyn Shoop|June 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When we first came by, the chefs were experimenting with Lucky Charms ice cream, including little pastel marshmallows.
The Secret to This Ice Cream: Pampered Cows|Jane & Michael Stern|May 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So they joyfully rode their new pastel bikes around the park for a while, until it was time to go to their first ballet class.
Why I Finally Let My Girls Be Girly|Andy Hinds|May 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was almost dawn, and the garden lay like a rare pastel outside his window; but Eric saw none of it.
The Medici Boots|Pearl Norton Swet
It was suddenly a mixture of muddled colors, instead of the carefully blended pastel shades he had selected.
Warm|Robert Sheckley
For this, in the winter of 1873, he made a pastel, a richly robed figure carrying a Japanese umbrella.
The Life of James McNeill Whistler|Elizabeth Robins Pennell
There are a number of small studies and sketches in oil and pastel that show he knew what he wanted.
The Life of James McNeill Whistler|Elizabeth Robins Pennell
The pose was natural to her, she said, though he made a number of pastel schemes before he painted it.
The Life of James McNeill Whistler|Elizabeth Robins Pennell

British Dictionary definitions for pastel

pastel

/ (ˈpæstəl, pæˈstɛl) /

noun

a substance made of ground pigment bound with gum, used for making sticks for drawing
a crayon of this
a drawing done in such crayons

the medium or technique of pastel drawing

a pale delicate colour

a light prose work, esp a poetic one

another name for woad

adjective

(of a colour) pale; delicatepastel blue

Derived forms of pastel

pastelist or pastellist, noun

Word Origin for pastel

C17: via French from Italian pastello, from Late Latin pastellus woad compounded into a paste, diminutive of pasta paste 1

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

pastel

Origin of pastel

Words nearby pastel

Other definitions for pastel (2 of 2)

Origin of pastel

Words related to pastel

How to use pastel in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pastel

Derived forms of pastel

Word Origin for pastel