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• washed-out
  washed-out

  adjective

  faded, especially from washing.
• washed out
  washed out

  adjective

  faded or colourless

washed-out

American  

[wosht-out, wawsht-] / ˈwɒʃtˈaʊt, ˈwɔʃt- /

adjective

1. faded, especially from washing.

2. Informal.

   1. weary; exhausted.

   2. tired-looking; wan.

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washed out British  

adjective

1. faded or colourless

2. exhausted, esp when being pale in appearance

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washed out Idioms  

1. Faded in color; also, lacking animation. For example, This carpet is all washed out from the sun, or He looks all washed out. [Late 1700s; early 1800s] Also see wash out, def. 3.

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Etymology

Origin of washed-out

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

washed-out washed out

But I also looked in at myself as a mother through the leaded-glass pane of our very lovely living-room windows, and I saw a washed-out woman worn down to the thinnest thread.

From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2026

Celebrities like Dua Lipa and Lena Dunham have posted wistful, washed-out pictures celebrating the decennial.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026

In Jamaica, the impact was most severe in the southwestern parish of St Elizabeth, where knee-deep mud and washed-out bridges left towns such as Black River cut off.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2025

It’s funny how just the grainy, washed-out look of videotape can conjure so much melancholy.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2025

Across the creek from Julia’s house, where the old washed-out road lay in crumbled chunks, stood a concrete abutment that once served as an overpass to the floodwaters of winter and spring.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith

If it did, the attempt to recreate the first film’s magic would’ve come with plenty of film stock and some colored gels to make sure every shot isn’t washed out in jaundiced yellow.

From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026

My blue hair washed out to a mossy green, and I just went with it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Their fear has been the opposite mistake: reacting to price changes that will have washed out of the data by the time higher rates take effect.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

England now hold an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the five-match series, winning the past three games in fine fashion after the first fixture at Chester-le-Street was washed out.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

I fell a couple of times, tripping over roots sticking out from ground that was ashy and loose in the thinning earth, washed out from the endless rain.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline