tinge
Americanverb (used with object)
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tinges,
present (3rd person singular)
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tinged,
past participle, past
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tingeing,
present participle
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tinging
present participle
-
to impart a trace or slight degree of some color to; tint.
-
to impart a slight taste or smell to.
noun
-
a slight tint or colouring
her hair had a tinge of grey
-
any slight addition
verb
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to colour or tint faintly
-
to impart a slight trace to
her thoughts were tinged with nostalgia
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tingesimple
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tingessimple
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have tingedperfect
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has tingedperfect
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am tingeingprogressive
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am tingingprogressive
-
are tingeingprogressive
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are tingingprogressive
-
is tingeingprogressive
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is tingingprogressive
-
have been tingeingperfect progressive
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have been tingingperfect progressive
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has been tingeingperfect progressive
-
has been tingingperfect progressive
Past
-
tingedsimple
-
had tingedperfect
-
was tingeingprogressive
-
was tingingprogressive
-
were tingeingprogressive
-
were tingingprogressive
-
had been tingeingperfect progressive
-
had been tingingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tinge
First recorded in 1470–80, tinge is from the Latin word tingere to dye, color
Explanation
A tinge is a slight amount of something, like a color or a feeling. Some glaciers have a tinge of blue, and an old photo might make you feel a tinge of sadness. If a painting has a tinge of orange, there's just a touch of orange. Outside of colors, tinge can mean a small amount of just about anything. Sometimes you hear about someone speaking with a tinge of anger. That means there's just a little bit anger showing in their words. A tinge will never bowl you over — it's always small or subtle.
Vocabulary lists containing tinge
"The Witches" by Roald Dahl, Chapters 1–5
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Ground Zero
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The Unteachables
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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:
The song offers “nostalgia with a tinge of hope,” explains Ceylon Andi Hickman, a 30-year-old England supporter in London.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
And if it does transpire to be his final week, he will no doubt depart with a tinge of regret.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
If there’s any qualm in Cosm’s work it’s that at times there could be a tinge more self-control in order to let the film do its work.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
It’s set in a bougie bohemian realm inhabited by actors and writers, cultural nomads who have mystery and money, and a tinge of the sordid about them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
The tinge of gray in her skin is more visible now.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
That this sourness tinges the latest “Joe Schmo Show” may be unavoidable.
From Salon ● Jan. 21, 2025
Right now, it has tinges of Merle Haggard singing, “If we make it through December.”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 4, 2023
There are even a few fun science fiction tinges, as the McCunes rely on handmade technology that seems beguilingly alien for the era.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2022
As in “The Times Are Racing,” the music for “Hurry Up” is anthemic electronic pop, ultrabright with wistful tinges — in this case, from the M83 double album also called “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.”
From New York Times ● May 14, 2020
The open sky in front of him was a deep purple, slowly fading into the bright blue of day, with tinges of orange from the sun on a distant, flat horizon.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
"In this new wave, it's women who are taking the lead, with writing often tinged with feminism, but also often quite dark and violent, punctuated by surreal touches," she noted.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
This year the clamor is louder, more aggressive, and tinged with showy economic threats.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026
"His performance certainly seems tinged with the courageous naivety of Spider-Man, insisting on trying to influence those much more cunning and physically capable than he," he wrote.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Direct attacks on a competitor are rare in advertising, she said, as are politically tinged messages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Mr. Larsen's gingery curls are tinged with gray.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
Novels like these not only induce insomnia but are also hallucinogenic, tingeing with fantasy the reader's remembrance of known fact.
From Time Magazine Archive
Like a fiery djinn, the hydrogen bomb hung over the House of Commons, shaping every speech, tingeing every mind.
From Time Magazine Archive
I put a pan on the stove and dry toasted the cacao nibs, tingeing the air with the earthy scent I loved.
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
Dawn breaks, the sun’s rays tracing the sky above Blackcliff’s ebony belltower like bloodied fingers, tingeing everyone in the courtyard a lurid red.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
“Why?” my mom asks, panic tingeing her voice.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
Then the graphic qualifies even that, adding "barely" before "coping," tinging the word a furious flush of pink that seethes into red.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2020
It was long believed that Sativa’s ailing pipelines were responsible for delivering manganese into the water supply and tinging the water brown.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2019
Even the zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead views its sad, shuffling working-class protagonists from a jaded distance, tinging its humor and affection with mockery and blood.
From The Verge ● Mar. 22, 2018
Wherever the “Peter Pan” fantasy turns up, though, her artwork blooms into color, suffusing Wendy’s dreams of Neverland and tinging the elements of the real world that she’s charged with her hopeful imaginings.
From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2017
All those scraggy- looking Santa Clauses were standing on corners ringing those bells, and the Salvation Army girls, the ones that don't wear any lipstick or anything, were tinging bells too.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
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.
