muted tones
Softened, grayed hues
Muted tones are colors that have been softened or dulled, typically by adding gray, white, or a complementary color.
They lack the brightness or saturation of pure hues: The room was decorated in muted tones of sage and dusty rose.
The phrase extends to sounds that are quiet or subdued: They spoke in muted tones so as not to wake the baby.
- softYielding to touch
- soft focusDeliberately blurred image technique
- subduedReduced in intensity
- pastelPale, gentle shade
- color paletteRange of selected hues
quiet · hushed · dusty · faded · washed out · gentle · washed · mellow · subtle · earthy · neutral · taupe · sage · mauve · dove · whisper · hazy · diffused
- Gustaviangilded mirrors, white paint, settees, commodes, console tables
- color termsblack, white, red, blue, green
- grayscalegrayscale, monochrome, black, white, gray
- color wordsred, blue, gold, white, green
- color theorycolor theory, hue, primary colors, secondary colors, saturation
- color effectsgradient, fade, tint, shade, saturation
color saturation and intensity
muted tonesvivid colors
Intense, striking shades
bright colors · bold colors · rich colors · brilliant hues · loud colors
mute, muted, mutes, muting, mutely, muteness, tone, tones, toned