pale
Noun pluralpales
Pluralpales
- 1Light in shade, closer to white than to a deep or strong color.
Like the color of coffee after you pour in lots of milk: much lighter than before.
She painted the bedroom walls a pale blue.
The morning sky turned a pale yellow at sunrise.
UsagePut it before a color: pale blue.
- 2Having little color in the face, often because of illness, fear, or shock.
Like a sheet of white paper: the usual color seems to drain away.
She looked pale and tired after the long flight.
His face went pale the moment he heard the news.
UsageSay turn pale or go pale.
Similarpallid, white, ashen, wan, pasty
Note
- 3To seem small or much less important next to something else.
Like a candle's light next to the sun: it almost disappears.
All my problems pale next to what she is going through.
My old bike paled in comparison to my brother's new one.
UsageSay something pales next to or pales in comparison to something else.
- 4To lose color and become pale, often in the face, or to make something paler.
Like color washing out of cloth left too long in the sun.
She paled when she saw the test results.
Some people pale at the sight of needles.
UsageSay pale at something.
Note
- 5Weak or faint, not strong, full, or convincing.
Like a weak echo that barely repeats a loud sound.
The remake was only a pale version of the original film.
After the injury, he was a pale shadow of the player he once was.
UsageSay a pale imitation of or a pale shadow of something.
- 6A limit or boundary of what people will accept or allow.
Like a fence around what is okay: step past it and you have gone too far.
His rude shouting was completely beyond the pale.
Those cruel jokes fell outside the pale of polite talk.
UsageSay something is beyond the pale when it is not acceptable.
Similarbounds, limits, boundary, confines
Note
Less common meanings
- 7The region of the Russian Empire where Jews were allowed to live.
Like an area someone is told they must stay inside of.
Under the czars, most Jewish families had to live within the Pale.
Jews could not legally settle outside the Pale.
Note
- 8
- 9In history, an area outside England that the English ruled, such as land around Dublin.
Like a small zone where one country's rules really worked.
Dublin sat at the heart of the Pale.
English law held firm inside the Pale but not beyond it.
UsageWrite the Pale with a capital P.
Note
- 10The area and limits that a ruler or authority controls.
Note
- 11
- 12An unhealthy lack of color in the face or skin.
The boare (quoth ſhe) whereat a ſuddain pale, / Like lawne being ſpred vpon the bluſhing roſe, / Vſurpes her cheeke, ſhe trembles at his tale, / And on his neck her yoaking armes ſhe throwes.
1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and AdonisHere, pale means a sudden loss of color in her face.Note
- 13A wide upright band running straight down the center of a shield or coat of arms.
- 14A small tool used to scoop out pieces of cheese.
Showing meanings only.
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Origins
From Latin pallidus, meaning "pale," which came from a word meaning "to be pale or fade."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Pale ultimately derives from Latin pallidus, meaning pale. en.wiktionary.org
- Pallidus derives from a verb meaning to be pale or fade. en.wiktionary.org
From Latin pālus, meaning "stake" or "prop," which came into English through Old French pal.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The ultimate source is Latin pālus, meaning stake or prop. en.wiktionary.org
- The word entered English through Old French pal. en.wiktionary.org