shades of

Idioms  

1. A reminder of a person or situation in the past. For example, He really played a fine game for a fifty-year-old—shades of his high school triumphs, or They found themselves alone on the beach—shades of their childhood summers together. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

Unassuming from the outside, the shop opens into a huge ark of mortar-crusted brick and ribcage-like beams, with long dining tables displaying shapely vases, pitchers, teacups and plates in shades of apricot, amber and malachite.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

Cut into it and you’ll reveal its delicate anatomy — layers of leaves, in shades of light green or purple, all tightly packed into one big ball.

From Salon • Feb. 21, 2026

The impeachment complaints filed against her cite an alleged death threat against Marcos made during a late-night press briefing that bore shades of her father's famously scathing verbal style.

From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026

The crescent-shaped Venetian lagoon glows in shades of turquoise, revealing the network of islands that form the floating city of Venice along the Adriatic coast.

From Science Daily • Feb. 9, 2026

Like the classic it has become, the Farewell Address has demonstrated the capacity to assume different shapes in different eras, to change color, if you will, in varying shades of light.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis