pale

If a person’s skin looks much lighter or whiter than is normal, you can say that person looks pale. The word "pale" is also use when a color is lightened.

• That house is painted a pale yellow.
• Vanessa has beautiful pale blue eyes.
• You look pale. Are you sick?
• People suntan because they don’t want their skin to look pale.
• Molly’s pale skin burns easily if she spends too much time in the sun.
• Sidney turned pale when he found out he lost thousands of dollars.
• Bob prefers pale ale to regular beer. (Ale is a type of beer).

The word "pale" is also heard used as a verb within a very specific expression: pale in comparison. If something pales in comparison, it seems to be less or not as valuable as another thing.

• The money that Henry is making now pales in comparison to his previous job. (This mean he make much less money now.)
• A Honda Accord is a nice car, but it pales in comparison to a Mercedes.
• The team’s performance on the field this season pales in comparison to last year’s championship season.

Date of publication: November 19, 2016