ashen

adjective

ˈa-shən How to pronounce ashen (audio)
Definition of ashennext
as in pallid
lacking a healthy skin color still looking ashen from his bout with the flu

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ashen Lead—dense but yielding, silvery but ashen, handy but deadly—was long used for this purpose. — Kyle Devine, Longreads, 14 July 2026 Nonetheless, at the end of the screening many members of the Vogue staff attended this week, one colleague turned to me with a slightly ashen look. — Chloe Schama, Vogue, 1 May 2026 Hitchcock didn’t respond, his face slowly turning ashen. — Jeffrey Collins, Sun Sentinel, 30 Apr. 2026 His ashen skin is snaked with circuitry, his voice flattened into the cold register of the Borg, a cybernetic collective that assimilates entire civilizations and reshapes them in its own image. — Jp Mangalindan, Time, 5 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for ashen
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ashen
  1. pallid
  2. pale
Adjective
  • The pallid grayness of Mike Eley’s cinematography is probably supposed to mimic the finality of HIV/AIDS taking hold, but there’s no passion aesthetically to counterbalance what becomes absolute misery onscreen to watch.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Young people in particular have soured on the technology over the last year, a development that may at least partially be explained by a pallid entry-level job market.
    — T.M. Brown, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of pallid
Adjective
  • Rocha developed Parker’s dress from an existing show piece, reworking its hand-laced, unraveling ribbons in a pale ballet pink intended as a nod to pointe shoes.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Wide, pale pink, satin ribbons were threaded loosely throughout the dress, culminating in bows at the shoulders.
    — Marci Robin, Allure, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of pale

Browse Nearby Words

ashed
ashen
ashes
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Cite this Entry

“Ashen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ashen. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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