WORDLE ENGLISH

shade

5 letters·English

shade—Darkness where light, particularly sunlight, is blocked.

/ʃeɪd/

Origin

From Middle English schade, from Old English sċeadu, sċadu (“shadow; shade”), from Proto-West Germanic *skadu, from Proto-Germanic *skadwaz (“shadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- (“darkness, shadow”). Cognates Cognate with Scots shedda (“shadow”), Saterland Frisian Skaad, Skade (“shade, shadow”), West Frisian skaad, skâd (“shade, shadow”), Central Franconian and Limburgish Schatte (“shadow”), Dutch schade, schaduw (“shadow”), German Schatten (“shade, shadow”), German Low German Scharr, Scharre (“shade, shadow”), Luxembourgish Schiet (“shade, shadow”), Vilamovian siota (“shadow”), Yiddish שאָטן (shotn, “shadow”), Faroese skadda (“thick wet mountain fog”), Icelandic skodda, skoddi (“shadow”), Norwegian Bokmål skodde (“fog, mist”), Norwegian Nynorsk skodde, skåddj, skåidd (“fog; ice fog”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌳𐌿𐍃 (skadus, “shadow”); also Breton skeud (“shadow; reflection; ghost”), Cornish skeus (“shadow; reflection”), Irish scáth (“shadow”), Manx scaa, skæ (“shield; shade, shadow”), Scottish Gaelic sgàth (“shade, shadow”), Latin obscurus (“dark, dusky, shadowy”), Ancient Greek σκότος (skótos, “darkness, gloom”) (whence English scoto-), Belarusian сівы́ (sivý, “grey”), Czech and Slovak sivý (“grey”), Macedonian осој (osoj, “shady place”), Polish siwy (“grey”), Russian си́вый (sívyj, “grey”), Serbo-Croatian сив, siv (“grey”), Slovene osoja (“shady place”), Ukrainian си́вий (sývyj, “grey”), Armenian սեաւ (seaw), սեւ (sew, “black”), Ossetian сау (saw, “black”), Persian سه (sah), سیه (siyah), سیاه (siyâh, “black”), Sanskrit श्याम (śyāma, “black”), श्याव (śyāva, “dark”).

noun

uncountableDarkness where light, particularly sunlight, is blocked.
“The old oak tree gave shade in the heat of the day.”
“Temps rose to a sweltering 40 degrees Celsius in the shade.”
“Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet:[…].”
countableSomething that blocks light, particularly in a window.
“Close the shade, please: it's too bright in here.”
“Also, people with darker skin tend to have lower blood levels of vitamin D because the pigment (melanin) acts like a shade, reducing production of vitamin D (and also reducing damaging effects of sunl”
countableA variety of a color, in particular one obtained by adding black (compare tint).
“I've painted my room in five lovely shades of pink and chartreuse.”
“Thus light and colours, as white, red, yellow, blue, with their several degrees or shades, and mixtures, as green, scarlet, purple, sea-green, and the rest, come in only by the eyes[…]”
“Speaking of round sunglasses, these lightweight polarized ones and come in two shades of tortoiseshell as well as black and bronze.”
countable, figuratively, uncountableA subtle variation in a concept.
“shades of meaning”
“new shades and combinations of thought”
“Every shade of religious and political opinion had its own headquarters.”
countable, figuratively, in-plural, uncountableAn aspect that is reminiscent of something.
“shades of Groucho Marx”
countable, uncountableA very small degree of a quantity, or variety of meaning
“That is a shade too close.”
“Mrs. Rhodes who (so I gathered from Mr. Petherick's careful language) was perhaps just a shade of a hypochondriac, had retired to bed immediately after dinner.”
“Five feet in diameter and a shade above knee high, the center of the fragile white canvass structure is filled with […]”
countable, literary, uncountableA ghost or specter; a spirit.
“Too long have I been haunted by that shade.”
“The adventurer was attacked by a shade.”
“Swift as thought the flitting shade / Thro' air his momentary journey made.”
countableA postage stamp showing an obvious difference in colour/color to the original printing and needing a separate catalogue/catalog entry.
uncountableSubtle insults.
“throw shade”
“Why did you paint your room chartreuse? No shade; I'm genuinely curious.”
“Shade is: "I don't tell you you're ugly, but I don't have to tell you because you know you're ugly." And that's shade.”
countableA cover around or above a light bulb, a lampshade.
“Lighting was unimaginative for the standard stock with naked tungsten filament bulbs and metal reflectors. However, all compartments had individual reading lights above the seats with attractive glass”
countable, historical, uncountableA candle-shade.
“I am now finishing this letter by candle-light, with the help of a handkerchief tied over the shade.”
“His tent is furnished with a good large bed, mattress, pillow, &c., a few camp-stools or chairs, a folding table, a pair of shades for his candles, six or seven trunks with table equipage, his stock o”

verb

transitiveTo shield (someone or something) from light.
“The old oak tree shaded the lawn in the heat of the day.”
intransitive, rareTo shield oneself from light.
“We shaded under a huge oak tree.”
transitiveTo alter slightly.
“You'll need to shade your shot slightly to the left.”
“Most politicians will shade the truth if it helps them.”
intransitiveTo vary or approach something slightly, particularly in color.
“The hillside was bright green, shading towards gold in the drier areas.”
“This small group will be most conveniently treated with the emotional division, into which it shades.”
intransitiveTo move slightly from one's normal fielding position.
“Jones will shade a little to the right on this pitch count.”
transitiveTo darken, particularly in drawing.
“I draw contours first, gradually shading in midtones and shadows.”
To win by a narrow margin.
“Both parties claimed afterwards that their man did best in the debate, but an early opinion poll suggested Mr Cameron shaded it.”
“It was Alexis Mac Allister who lit the touchpaper at the start of the second half, scoring from the penalty spot to cancel out John Stones’s opener for City midway through a first half that the defend”
transitiveTo reduce (a window) so that only its title bar is visible.
slang, transitiveTo throw shade, to subtly insult someone.
“The lyrics have prompted headlines about her “shading” Musk with a “spicy dig”, but I reckon the guy got off lightly.”
obsolete, transitiveTo shelter; to cover from injury; to protect; to screen.
“Ere in our own house I do shade my head.”
obsolete, transitiveTo present a shadow or image of; to shadow forth; to represent.
“His [Osiris’s] wife was Iſis, whom they likewiſe made / A Goddeſſe of great powre and ſouerainty, / And in her perſon cunningly did ſhade / That part of Iuſtice, which is Equity, […]”

name

A surname.

Formsshades(plural) · shades(present, singular, third-person) · shading(participle, present) · shaded(participle, past) · shaded(past) · Shades(plural)

Source: Wiktionary

Found In

Spelling Bee

Appeared In

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Sedecordle Board 14 #121 · August 9, 2026

Daily Puzzle #635 · March 16, 2023