adj. 1 colourless, white, wan, sallow, waxen, livid, ashen, ashy, pallid, bloodless, whitish, pasty, whey-faced, washed out, anaemic, blanched, drained, ghostly, ghastly, peaky or peakish, peaked, cadaverous If you had been through an ordeal like that, you'd look pale, too 2 faint, light, dim, washed out, pastel She was wearing a pale green evening gown tonight 3 feeble, weak, flimsy, meagre, enfeebled, ineffective, ineffectual, puny, insignificant, paltry, lame, poor, inadequate, half-hearted, tame, spiritless, whey-faced, empty, sterile, lifeless, uninspired, anaemic, Colloq half-baked The sequel was a pale imitation of the original film
v. 4 blanch, blench, dim, whiten He paled when they told him of the car crash 5 diminish, lessen, fade (away), decrease, abate The works of most modern writers pale in comparison with those of the Elizabethans