pale
Word family nounpalepaleapaletadjectivepaleaceous
pale1 /peɪl/ ●●○ W3 adjectiveadj → pail1 MICOLOUR/COLORhaving a skin colour that is very white, or whiter than it usually is 蒼白的He looked very pale and drawn. 他看上去非常蒼白憔悴。
turn/go paleHe suddenly went pale. 他突然臉色煞白。
Sharon went deathly pale and looked as if she might faint. 莎倫臉色變得慘白,好像要暈倒似的。
an elderly pale-faced woman 一位臉色蒼白的老太太
2 CCCOLOUR/COLORa pale colour has more white in it than usual 〔顔色〕淺的,淡的 OPP deep SYN lightpale blue curtains 淡藍色的窗簾
► see thesaurus at colour 4 pale imitation (of something) something that is similar to, but not as good as, something else 不如某物的類似物品The cheese is a pale imitation of real Parmesan. 這種幹酪是帕爾梅森幹酪的仿制品,但味道要差一些。
pale imitation (of something)• It had been a pale imitation.• These, however, are but a pale imitation of the History file.• These programs are still only a pale imitation of the original human operators, however.• But this time round, they're pathetic, pale imitations of the planet destroyers that went before.• To its critics, it became a mild tabloid and a very pale imitation of what was originally intended. n THESAURUSpale a pale colour is very lightHe has very pale blue eyes.
a flower with pale green leaves
light a light colour is not darkHis T-shirt was light green.
a light blue sweater
pastel pastel colours have a lot of white in themThe girls wore pastel pink sundresses.
faded light in colour because of being washed many times or affected by the sunThe curtains were old and faded.
a pair of faded jeans
pale2 verb [intransitiveI]1 COLOUR/COLOR literary if your face pales, it becomes whiter than usual because you have had a shock 〔臉色〕變蒼白Kent’s face paled when he saw that Rob had a knife. 肯特看到羅布拿着把刀子,頓時面無血色。
2 pale into insignificance UNIMPORTANTto seem much less important when compared to something bigger, worse, more serious etc 相形見绌,小巫見大巫The amounts of money involved pale into insignificance when compared with the sums spent each year on research. 涉及的金額與每年花在研究上的費用相比就是滄海一粟。
pale into insignificance• This can also happen if a pain is very severe and strong such that it makes all the other symptoms pale into insignificance.• Such faults pale into insignificance against performances of such magnitude as these.• But all of this pales into insignificance compared with one major advantage.• There are still some problems, but they pale into insignificance when compared to the difficulties facing Russia.• Our difficulties pale into insignificance when compared to the problems of the homeless.• However, definitional factors pale into insignificance when compared with recent changes in household size. 3 pale in/by comparison SMALLto seem small or unimportant compared to something else 相比之下微不足道,相形失色pale in/by comparison to/withToday’s economic problems pale in comparison with those of the 1930s. 如今的經濟問題和20世紀30年代的相比是小巫見大巫。
pale3 nounbeyond the pale BAD BEHAVIOUR OR ACTIONSoffensive or unacceptable 越軌的;不可容忍的His opinions are entirely beyond the pale. 他的觀點讓人根本無法接受。
Origin pale1 (1300-1400) Old French Latin pallidus;
→ PALLID pale3 (1400-1500) pale “limit” ((15-18 centuries)), from “fence” ((14-19 centuries)), from “pointed piece of wood driven into the ground” ((14-20 centuries)), from Old French pal, from Latin palus