pastel

¹ American  

[pa-stel, pas-tl] / pæˈstɛl, ˈpæs tl /

noun

1. a color having a soft, subdued shade.

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

3. a chalklike crayon made from such paste.

4. the art of drawing with such crayons.

5. a drawing so made.

6. a short, light prose study or sketch.

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adjective

1. having a soft, subdued shade.

2. drawn with pastels.

   a pastel portrait.

pastel ² American  

[pas-tel] / ˈpæs tɛl /

noun

1. the woad plant.

2. the dye made from it.

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pastel British  

/ pæˈstɛl, ˈpæstəl /

noun

1. 1. a substance made of ground pigment bound with gum, used for making sticks for drawing

   2. a crayon of this

   3. a drawing done in such crayons

2. the medium or technique of pastel drawing

3. a pale delicate colour

4. a light prose work, esp a poetic one

5. another name for woad

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adjective

1. (of a colour) pale; delicate

   pastel blue

Other Word Forms

• pastelist noun

Etymology

Origin of pastel¹

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

Origin of pastel²

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

Example Sentences

A palette of pastel mint green and baby pink was showcased, with bejewelled satin trouser suits and sparkling evening gowns.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026

After watching the changing of the guard at the candy-box-style Palais Princier de Monaco, home of Prince Albert II, I wandered into the narrow stone-paved lanes lined with pastel houses of the old town.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 10, 2026

His student competition pictures of the 1770s are rendered in the painterly technique and pastel colors associated with the Rococo style of François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025

Balloons in every color of pastel — pink, lavender, periwinkle blue — bobbed along the hall.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 1, 2025

There’s a pastel portrait of my grandmother that was done in New York by a street artist, which makes her look like she had a broken jaw.

From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson

Related Words

• delicate