Standard Lemma guide

pallor

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈpælɚ/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpælə/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ælə(ɹ)

1

noun

Meaning 1

Unnatural paleness, especially as a sign of sickness or distress.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • pallor of the complexion

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pallidity, wanness

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

unnatural lack of color in the skin (as from bruising or sickness or emotional distress)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lividness, lividity, luridness, paleness, pallidness, wanness, achromasia

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: complexion, skin color, skin colour

History

Etymology

From Middle English pallour, from Old French palor (“paleness, pallor”), from Latin pallor, from palleō (“to look pale, blanch”).

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: бледност (blednost) — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Catalan: pal·lidesa — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Chinese Mandarin: 面色蒼白 /面色苍白 (miànsè cāngbái) — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Czech: bledost — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Dutch: bleekheid — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Finnish: kalpeus — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • French: pâleur — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • German: Blässe — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Greek: ωχρότητα (ochrótita) — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Ancient Greek: ὠχρότης (ōkhrótēs) — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Ancient Greek: ὦχρος (ôkhros) — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Hungarian: sápadtság — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Icelandic: fölvi — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Italian: pallore — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Italian: pallidità — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Latin: pallor — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Latvian: bālums — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Persian: رنگپریدگی (rang-paridegi) — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Persian: زردی (zardi) — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Polish: bladość — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Portuguese: palidez — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Romanian: paliditate — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Romanian: gălbinare — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Russian: бле́дность (blédnostʹ) — paleness; want of color; pallidity
  • Spanish: palidez — paleness; want of color; pallidity