Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for "shades"
  • present tense form of shade (3rd person singular).
  • plural of shade.
Synonyms

shades

British  
/ ʃeɪdz /

plural noun

  1. gathering darkness at nightfall

  2. a slang word for sunglasses

  3. (often capital) a literary term for Hades

  4. (foll by of) undertones or suggestions

    shades of my father!

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

These letters haven’t been issued since the Civil War, but the parallel is obvious and creates shades of gray that could present major problems.

From Salon Aug. 17, 2026

Journalists and some White House staff boarded Air Force One and were reportedly told to close their window shades.

From BBC Aug. 11, 2026

To help conceal the plot, which one anonymous U.S. official called a “deception operation,” White House officials made journalists aboard Air Force One close their window shades.

From Slate Aug. 11, 2026

Family, friends and neighbors filled the frames with dancing and dominoes; their apartments painted in shades of mint, butter yellow and palomino pink, flecked with a patina cultivated by humidity and time.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 28, 2026

What’s more, the crucial word “admits of infinite shades, from the very light to very dark. How am I to judge of the degree intended?”

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

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training