tint
Americannoun
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a color or a variety of a color; hue.
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a color diluted with white; a color of less than maximum purity, chromo, or saturation.
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a delicate or pale color.
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any of various commercial dyes for the hair.
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Engraving. a uniform shading, as that produced by a series of fine parallel lines.
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Also called tint block. Printing. a faintly or lightly colored background upon which an illustration or the like is to be printed.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a shade of a colour, esp a pale one
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a colour that is softened or desaturated by the addition of white
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a tinge
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a semipermanent dye for the hair
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a trace or hint
a tint of jealousy in his voice
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engraving uniform shading, produced esp by hatching
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printing a panel of colour serving as a background to letters or other matter
verb
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(tr) to colour or tinge
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(tr) to change or influence slightly
his answer was tinted by his prior knowledge
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(intr) to acquire a tint
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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overtintnoun
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tinternoun
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overtintverb
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retintverb (used with object)
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nontintedadjective
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untintedadjective
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well-tintedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tintsimple
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tintssimple
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have tintedperfect
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has tintedperfect
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am tintingprogressive
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are tintingprogressive
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is tintingprogressive
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have been tintingperfect progressive
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has been tintingperfect progressive
Past
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tintedsimple
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had tintedperfect
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was tintingprogressive
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were tintingprogressive
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had been tintingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tint
First recorded in 1710–20; variant of tinct
Explanation
A tint is a shade or type of color. You might describe ocean water during a storm as having tints of green and gray. After you play with your dog in the snow, your cold cheeks might take on a tint of pink. And an artist might change the color of the sky in a painting with a tint of purple. Tint is also a verb, meaning "shade" or "color very slightly." So rinsing beets will probably tint your white sink. Before it evolved into tint, the word was tinct, from the Latin tinctus, "a dyeing."
Vocabulary lists containing tint
Visual Arts - Introductory
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Visual Arts - High School
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Visual Arts - Middle School
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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:
Then, smart glass for windshields that will tint itself in the spot where the sun or a reflection hits it at high intensity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
Finish with fresh herbs and a quick yogurt sauce: lemon juice, chopped herbs and enough Old Bay to tint it faintly coral.
From Salon ● Feb. 24, 2026
According to the York team, light traveling through space could acquire a slight red or blue tint depending on the kind of dark matter it encounters.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2025
They’ve even found their way into makeup; Hailey Bieber’s brand Rhode released a popular peptide-packed lip tint last year, and you can find them in mascara, eye shadow, blush … the list goes on.
From Slate ● May 4, 2025
“She needs a cut and a perm. And this purple tint in her hair, she’s been doing it at home. She’s never had anything professionally done.”
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
The red and blue of the women’s clothing echo the tints of the rainbow itself, as do smaller, random flecks of color throughout.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
Not long ago, Punjabi-Canadian singer Jazzy B's rings, often the size of a cookie, along with his plus-sized Kanda pendant and silver blonde hair tints, were trending.
From BBC ● May 31, 2025
Although there have been rare, noncommercial screenings over the years, the expiration of the copyright is what allowed Stenn to finance a restoration with the original tints.
From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2024
He was then placed under house arrest in July after being pulled over by the Florida Highway Patrol because his window tints were too dark.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
When Zeitoun first designed it, he’d had no idea that a sign with a rainbow on it would signify anything to anyone—anything other than the array of colors and tints from which clients might choose.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Agents with their faces covered up to their eyes, in unmarked black SUVs with tinted windows, would wait outside churches, mosques, schools, daycares, courtrooms, and hospitals.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
"The 2,000-foot-long basin was drained" and "a tinted polyurea liner" was installed in the pool to "waterproof and protect the concrete pool surface", the NPS outlined in its statement.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
A Toyota Voxy minivan with tinted windows slid behind Ashaal’s SUV, then gave a burst of speed to zoom ahead and block his path.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
What makes the character indelible is the ghoulish heavy makeup, a bright red wig with tiny bangs, and oversized tinted sunglasses -- a cartoonish look that has gone viral.
From Barron's ● Mar. 15, 2026
As he drew nearer he saw where the lights came from —two barn lanterns, the shades tinted, one blue and the other yellow.
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
The cause, of course, is a smoggy blanket of fumes from wildfires in Canada that have been drifting south, muting the sun and tinting the sky a foreboding apricot hue.
From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2023
But on that afternoon—hot, windless—smoke drifted between the domes, tinting the scene with a sepia filter, and no one was in sight.
From Slate ● Nov. 27, 2021
Algae also grows on the outside of their shell, tinting them pink, green and brown; each shell is unique.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2021
Sisters Thai puts its own spin on the traditional Thai sweet by tinting the rice blue.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 22, 2021
She heard the smile in what he was saying, but there was a hint of regret, too, tinting all his words blue.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
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.
