tint

American  

[tint] / tɪnt /

noun

1. a color or a variety of a color; hue.

2. a color diluted with white; a color of less than maximum purity, chromo, or saturation.

3. a delicate or pale color.

4. any of various commercial dyes for the hair.

5. Engraving. a uniform shading, as that produced by a series of fine parallel lines.

6. Also called tint block.  Printing. a faintly or lightly colored background upon which an illustration or the like is to be printed.

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verb (used with object)

1. to apply a tint or tints to; color slightly or delicately; tinge.

tint British  

/ tɪnt /

noun

1. a shade of a colour, esp a pale one

2. a colour that is softened or desaturated by the addition of white

3. a tinge

4. a semipermanent dye for the hair

5. a trace or hint

   a tint of jealousy in his voice

6. engraving uniform shading, produced esp by hatching

7. printing a panel of colour serving as a background to letters or other matter

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verb

1. (tr) to colour or tinge

2. (tr) to change or influence slightly

   his answer was tinted by his prior knowledge

3. (intr) to acquire a tint

Other Word Forms

• nontinted adjective
• overtint verb
• retint verb (used with object)
• tinter noun
• untinted adjective
• well-tinted adjective

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."

Example Sentences

Bartram's bass display a light golden color with dark brown blotches along their sides, a mottled belly, and fins with a rosy tint.

From Science Daily • Mar. 23, 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

There’s a red tint to her skin, suggesting she may not have avoided the sun altogether.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 14, 2025

The arrangements give the material a different tint.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 14, 2025

No one paid me any special attention, although the street was alive with pedestrians, all moiling along in the mysterious tint of green.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

Related Words

• coloration
• complexion
• glow
• hue
• tinge