tan
verb (used with object)
to convert (a hide) into leather, especially by soaking or steeping in a bath prepared from tanbark or synthetically.
tan
1 American
[tan]
/ tæn /
verb (used with object)
-
tans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tanned,
past participle, past
-
tanning
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
tans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tanned,
past participle, past
-
tanning
present participle
noun
-
the brown color imparted to the skin by exposure to the sun or open air.
-
yellowish brown; light brown.
adjective
-
tanner,
comparative
-
tannest
superlative
-
of the color of tan; yellowish-brown.
-
used in or relating to tanning processes, materials, etc.
idioms
tan
2
American
[tan]
/ tæn /
noun
Tan
3
American
[tan]
/ tæn /
noun
TAN
4
American
[tan]
/ tæn /
noun
tan
1
British
/ tæn /
abbreviation
tan
2
British
/ tæn /
noun
-
the brown colour produced by the skin after intensive exposure to ultraviolet rays, esp those of the sun
-
a light or moderate yellowish-brown colour
-
short for tanbark
verb
-
to go brown or cause to go brown after exposure to ultraviolet rays
she tans easily
-
to convert (a skin or hide) into leather by treating it with a tanning agent, such as vegetable tannins, chromium salts, fish oils, or formaldehyde
-
slang (tr) to beat or flog
adjective
-
of the colour tan
tan gloves
-
used in or relating to tanning
tan
Scientific
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
tansimple
-
tanssimple
-
have tannedperfect
-
has tannedperfect
-
am tanningprogressive
-
are tanningprogressive
-
is tanningprogressive
-
have been tanningperfect progressive
-
has been tanningperfect progressive
Past
-
tannedsimple
-
had tannedperfect
-
was tanningprogressive
-
were tanningprogressive
-
had been tanningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tan1
First recorded before 1000; 1920–25 tan 1 for def. 2; Middle English tannen “to make hide into leather,” late Old English tannian (only in past participle getanned ), from Medieval Latin tannāre, derivative of tannum “oak bark, tanbark,” from Germanic; compare Old High German tanna “oak, fir,” akin to Dutch den “fir”
Origin of tan2
By shortening
Explanation
Tan is a light brown color you might also call "beige." If you want to brighten up your bedroom, you can paint your boring tan walls with green, yellow, and hot pink stripes. Some people who spend a lot of time outside in the sun end up with a tan, a darker skin tone than they usually have. The verb tan means to deliberately soak up the sun in the hopes of getting a tan. You can also use tan as a verb to describe the process of making leather from animal skins: "Then I'll tan the deer hide by soaking it in this solution."
Vocabulary lists containing tan
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:
Banks, who was in a tan suit and brown tie, appeared nervous ahead of the verdict being read, swaying back and forth and at times swiveling in his chair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
Some attendees even paid tribute to one of the most famous footnotes of Obama’s presidency by wearing tan suits, a lighthearted nod to the outfit that once sparked outsized political controversy.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
A pool journalist allowed to tour the inside of the plane reported that it features leather seats, plush carpets, wooden panelling and walls colored tan and light brown with shades of gold.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Blue entered the lineup decades later, after 10 million consumers voted for it to replace the tan M&M, over purple or pink.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
Zoey’s sitting cross-legged and barefoot on one of the tan lounge chairs by the wooden planter boxes.
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
Tan later counter-sued Kawshigan to claim back expenses she said she had incurred while defending herself from his alleged harassment.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Andreasson is the senior author, and Jessy Tan, PhD, an instructor in neurology, is the lead author.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
“Demand for our custom AI accelerators and networking continues to be very strong,” Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said in a statement.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
Morningstar analyst Lorraine Tan said in an August note that revenue growth "has converged to the pace seen by the fast fashion industry at below 10 percent in 2025".
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
A girl named Molly Tan, who’d studied with us for precalc, wailed, beating balled fists against her thighs.
From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
Looking at the chart, a bullish falling wedge pattern is forming on the ratio chart against the TAN ETF:
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
She and her colleagues will now examine whether targeting the inflammatory factors and cellular interactions that induce TAN immunosuppression can help improve brain tumor responses to immunotherapy.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2023
Ministers want to update the planning rules, known as TAN 15, to reflect the risk of flooding and ensure future development considers the potential impact of climate change.
From BBC ● May 20, 2023
SAN TAN VALLEY, Ariz. — Buffeted by rising costs and declining interest from golfers, the Links at Queen Creek course closed two years ago after 26 years of operation.
From New York Times ● May 24, 2022
Stockings, petticoats, some soft stuff for a new dress and TAN shoes that looked like the ones that wonderful young woman wore and then some long white things.
From The Trail of the Lonesome Pine by John Fox
Back on TikTok, in her own way, beauty influencer and fake tanner Jemma is also trying to prevent others from going through what Jak did.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2025
When he returned to Germany, he searched all over the country for a traditional tanner who could teach him the craft and found one in Bad Hindelang, where Bensmann still lives today.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2023
He was also tanner and had shaved his head.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2023
She’s worked for three years to perfect her skinning process, and now works with a tanner who treats the skins to her liking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2022
The tanner who’d given me work for a few weeks.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
Sen. Rick Scott will face off against one of Florida’s tannest mothers in the GOP primary this election cycle.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 17, 2023
Q: Is Sutter the tannest man in sports?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2014
Gaggles of British tourists with fur coats and spray tans jostled for seating, clutching their outerwear to their chests for space as they scouted for a table to open up.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
Visor-wearing buzzards with farmer’s tans are circling the Saudi-backed league as the Kingdom considers terminating its munificent support of the lavish and comically irrelevant golf concern.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
"The spray tans, the hair and make-up, and the sparkles, the costumes... and the glamour," she said.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2025
Pumped-up lips, spray tans, hollowed-out cheeks and false lashes are just some of the characteristics of the “Mar-a-Lago face” that Donald Trump adores in his women.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2025
Blue window frames, old granite of grays and tans.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
To the looksmaxxers, these peptides aren’t about health; they’re for shedding fat, building muscle, clearing up skin, and even getting tanned.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026
NANTUCKET, Mass.—On a recent morning, a tanned Dave Portnoy appeared to be living his best rich-guy life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Within minutes of the announcement, memories of the elegant and tanned designer began to flood social media.
From Barron's ● Jan. 19, 2026
He was disguised behind a face mask and hat and had created a fake ID in which he had tanned his skin and wore a black wig with a false beard and moustache.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2024
Days in the hot sun hadn’t tanned his skin.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
A CeraVe sunscreen campaign woos Gen Z tanmaxxers with a social-media video series that kicks off with the dramatic destruction of a tanning bed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Who needs umbrellas when you’ve got a tanning bed, a chin-up bar, beef-tallow stockpiles, and a gallon of only-sometimes-poisonous raw milk?
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
They also proposed displaying cigarette-style images at sunbed shops and tanning salons to dissuade people from using them.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
He did, however, quickly stop using MT-II, the tanning peptide that years ago was dubbed the “Barbie peptide.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
She was interested not only in the tanning processes but in the business end too.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
