pallid
Americanadjective
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pale; faint or deficient in color; wan.
a pallid countenance.
-
lacking in vitality or interest.
a pallid musical performance.
adjective
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lacking colour or brightness; wan
a pallid complexion
-
lacking vigour; vapid
a pallid performance
Related Words
See pale 1.
Other Word Forms
- pallidly adverb
- pallidness noun
Etymology
Origin of pallid
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin pallidus “sallow,” equivalent to pall(ēre) “to be pale” + -idus adjective suffix ( -id 4 )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On the silver screen, it dazzles like few contemporary science fiction films do, opting for color over the pallid gray verisimilitude that often bogs down its peers.
From Salon
One glance at Betsie’s pallid face and fragile form, and the matron waved her contemptuously back inside the barracks where the elderly and infirm spent the day sewing prison uniforms.
From Literature
The lopsided scoreline was just reward for two-time European champions Chelsea, who were superior from the first whistle against a pallid Barcelona team.
From Barron's
The pictures show a pallid, hollow-eyed man, resembling Poe, who’s sitting by the fire in his dressing gown when there comes a gentle “rapping, rapping” at the door.
Garfield is all galling charisma and Edebiri is in some pallid register, like a Victorian ghost that you’re not sure whether to fear.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
