fadeverb [ I or T ]
uk/feɪd/us/feɪd/B2 to (cause to) lose colour, brightness, or strength gradually:
If you hang your clothes out in the bright sun, they will fade.
My suntan is already fading.
They arrived home just as the light was fading (= as it was getting dark).
The sun had faded the blue walls.
More examples
- Many of these problems may simply fade into irrelevance when the new rules come into force.
- My memory of childhood fades as time goes by.
- Her worries about her job have faded into the background since she learned about her father's illness.
- Hope is fading that the missing child is still alive.
- As she drifted into sleep, the doctor's face began to blur and fade.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Colourless or causing colour to fade
- bleach
- colorless
- colourless
- discolour
- drab
- dull
- faded
- frost
- ghostly
- light
- muted
- paleness
- palish
- pastel
- sober
- sombre
- subdued
- washed out
- weather
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Idiom(s)
be fading away/fast
Phrasal verb(s)
fade away
fade (sth) in
fade (sth) out