fade

CEFRC1

/feɪd/

verb · noun · adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To gradually become less clear, bright, or strong.

  2. 02

    noun

    A gradual change from one color or sound to another.

Examples

  • Flowers soon fade when they have been cut.

  • The flame has begun to fade.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
3
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /fæɪd/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings
  1. A golf shot that curves intentionally to the player's right (if they are right-handed) or to the left (if left-handed).

  2. A haircut where the hair is short or shaved on the sides of the head and longer on top. See also high-top fade and low fade.

adjective

Extra meaning
  1. Weak; insipid; tasteless.

More examples

In context
  • 1825, Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey, review of Theodric by Thomas Campbell Passages that are somewhat fade.

  • The milkman's whistling faded into the distance.

  • 1856, Eleanor Marx-Aveling (translator), Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter XI, A strange thing was that Bovary, while continually thinking of Emma, was forgetting her. He grew desperate as he felt this image fading from his memory in spite of...

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Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English fade, vad, vade (“faded, pale, withered, weak”), from Middle Dutch vade (“weak, faint, limp”), from Old French fade (“weak, witless”), of obscure origin. Probably from Vulgar Latin *fatidus, from Latin fatuus (“insipid”).