tint
Americannoun
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tints
plural
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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)
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tints,
present (3rd person singular)
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tinted,
past participle, past
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tinting
present participle
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
-
(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
-
tintssimple
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have tintedperfect
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has tintedperfect
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am tintingprogressive
-
are tintingprogressive
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is tintingprogressive
-
have been tintingperfect progressive
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has been tintingperfect progressive
Past
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tintedsimple
-
had tintedperfect
-
was tintingprogressive
-
were tintingprogressive
-
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:
Her pretend “roommate,” another employee, did the same, and the display changed to a different set of apps in a custom green tint.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
That love is palpable in “Drifting Toward Twilight” and its accompanying documentary, which sees Saar fawning over the orange tint of sloughed bark and the mystical qualities of garden scraps.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
His use of vocal processing and the percussive clicks and subtle looping of Ms. Rodrigo’s voice give the arrangement a warm electronic tint.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
As plant debris and soil organic matter wash into the lake from surrounding forests, they tint the water a deep brown.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 24, 2026
Nighthand followed; anyone looking closely might have seen a pink tint passing, sunrise-like, over the skin of his neck and cheeks.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
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
It manifests now in a brittleness that tints their everyday exchanges as ossifying empty nesters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
The court heard the off-duty officer knocked on his tinted passenger window and said: "Get rid of your tints and get off your phone."
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2025
In general, colors that are tints, tones and shades of the same color will blend well together as will colors that are complimentary on a color wheel.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 30, 2024
He drowsed and saw the colors of the fire, the tints of green and blue and burning yellow.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
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
PHOENIX—All around this desert city’s sprawling metro area, low-rise office parks with tinted windows and vast parking lots stretch to the horizon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
They also stopped cars with faults including bald tyres, illegally tinted windows and broken seat belts.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 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
When he pulled to a stop in the loading zone, I caught my reflection in the car's tinted windows before Marcus pushed open the door.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
During her courses, she learnt about tinting, waxing, facials and massage, which was taught as a separate module.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
Nazarian and Blumenfield both pointed out that the law does not require air conditioning, and said units could be kept cool with other interventions, including cool roof technology and window tinting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2025
On a sunny day, all these growing things have a stained-glass effect, tinting the light greenish.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2023
The knowledge of the terrible events coming weigh heavy over the story, tinting everything in queasy expectation.
From Salon ● Jul. 16, 2022
I studied pigments and tinting to match antique patinas.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
