pastel

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈpæstəl/

US:USA pronunciation: IPAUSA pronunciation: IPA/pæˈstɛl/

US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(pa stel′, esp. Brit. pas′tl; Plant, Textile pas′tel)



WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
pas•tel1 /pæˈstɛl/USA pronunciation   n. 
  1. [countable] a color having a soft, pale, light shade.
  2. Fine Art[uncountable] a dried paste made of coloring matter.
  3. Fine Art[countable] a crayon made from such paste.
  4. Fine Art[uncountable] the art of drawing with such crayons.
  5. Fine Art[countable] a drawing so made.

adj. [before a noun]
  1. having a soft, pale, light color or shade.
  2. Fine Artdrawn with pastels.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
pas•tel1  (pa stel′; esp. Brit. pas′tl),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. a color having a soft, subdued shade.
  2. Fine Arta kind of dried paste made of pigments ground with chalk and compounded with gum water.
  3. Fine Arta chalklike crayon made from such paste.
  4. Fine Artthe art of drawing with such crayons.
  5. Fine Arta drawing so made.
  6. Literaturea short, light prose study or sketch.

adj. 
  1. having a soft, subdued shade.
  2. Fine Artdrawn with pastels:a pastel portrait.
  • Late Latin pastellus, variant of Latin pastillus (see pastille)
  • Italian pastello
  • French
  • 1655–65

pas•tel2  (pas′tel),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. Plant Biologythe woad plant.
  2. Textilesthe dye made from it.
  • Medieval Latin pastellum (neuter) woad (origin, originally woad paste), for Late Latin pastellus (masculine), diminutive of pasta paste; change of gender by influence of Latin glastum woad
  • Provencal
  • Middle French
  • 1570–80

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
pastel / ˈpæstəl pæˈstɛl/
  1. a substance made of ground pigment bound with gum, used for making sticks for drawing
  2. a crayon of this
  3. a drawing done in such crayons
  4. the medium or technique of pastel drawing
  5. a pale delicate colour
  6. another name for woad
  1. (of a colour) pale; delicate: pastel blue
Etymology: 17th Century: via French from Italian pastello, from Late Latin pastellus woad compounded into a paste, diminutive of pasta paste1ˈpastelist, ˈpastellist
'pastel' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Aubusson - Dagestan - fondant - ice-cream suit - leisure suit - pastel orange - pastelist - pastille - sidewalk artist - suntan - sweet pea

Forum discussions with the word(s) "pastel" in the title:


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