sallow

¹ American  

[sal-oh] / ˈsæl oʊ /

adjective

sallower, sallowest

1. of a sickly, yellowish or lightish brown color.

   sallow cheeks; a sallow complexion.

   Synonyms:

   jaundiced, bilious

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verb (used with object)

1. to make sallow.

sallow ² American  

[sal-oh] / ˈsæl oʊ /

noun

British.

1. any of several shrubby Old World willows, especially Salix atrocinerea or the pussy willow, S. caprea.

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sallow ¹ British  

/ ˈsæləʊ /

adjective

1. (esp of human skin) of an unhealthy pale or yellowish colour

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verb

1. (tr) to make sallow

sallow ² British  

/ ˈsæləʊ /

noun

1. any of several small willow trees, esp the Eurasian Salix cinerea ( common sallow ), which has large catkins that appear before the leaves

2. a twig or the wood of any of these trees

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Other Word Forms

• sallowness
  noun
• sallowish
  adjective
• sallowy
  adjective
• sallowly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of sallow¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English sal(o)we, Old English salo; cognate with Old Norse sǫlr “yellow”; compare French sale “dirty” (from Germanic )

Origin of sallow²

before 900; Middle English; Old English sealh; cognate with Old High German salaha, Latin salix

Explanation

Sallow means unhealthy in appearance — often yellow in color — and is almost invariably used to describe someone's complexion. His smile was as engaging as ever, but from his sallow complexion, I knew he was sick. Usually we say that when someone is sick they turn "green." You could also say their skin takes on a sallow look, and you'd mean the same thing. Sallow also describes the way someone looks if they have lost blood or are pale from fever. This word comes from Germanic roots meaning "dusky" or "dirty."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sallow sallower sallowest

When they film themselves preening on their phones, with the images projected onto the giant mirrors, Claire and Solange use filters that turn their sallow, pinched faces into plump-lipped, high-cheekboned ones that suggest Kim Kardashian.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

The results were patchy, worsening the effect of my grown-out roots and sallow skin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2022

The haunting figure, his flesh a sallow yellow as if a waxwork, lies surrounded by brown fallen leaves.

From Reuters ● Apr. 6, 2022

“If you’re cool, these warm colors will give you that sallow, yellow look to your skin. Even the whites of your eyes can go a little bit yellow.”

From Washington Post ● Aug. 16, 2021

Her mouth was open, her eyes closed, her sallow face smeared with dirt.

From "The Fighting Ground" by Avi

His. long lank hair is still brown, makes him look like a smaller, sallower edition of the late Sir Henry Irving.

From Time Magazine Archive

Maybe it was the light, but already I looked sallower, unhealthy.

From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

Her face was sallower, and there was a long scar, partly hidden by the hair, across her forehead and temple; but that was not the change.

From "1984" by George Orwell

His face turned a little sallower, but he still fought against his growing conviction.

From Piccadilly Jim by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

Krag seemed to grow sallower and more repulsive every minute.

From A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay

It was quite unaccountable that Mrs. Deane, the thinnest and sallowest of all the Miss Dodsons, should have had this child, who might have been taken for Mrs. Tulliver's any day.

From The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot