sallow
Unhealthily pale complexion
Sallow describes an unhealthy yellowish or pale complexion, suggesting illness, fatigue, or poor nutrition: His face had grown sallow after weeks indoors.
The word applies almost exclusively to skin tone and carries negative connotations—nobody wants to look sallow.
Separately, sallow is a type of willow tree, rarely encountered outside botanical contexts.
Unhealthily lacking color
sickly · waxen · unhealthy · dull · muddy · jaundiced · allow · colorless
Lean from deprivation
- haggardExhausted in appearance
- drawnRendered in lines
- hollowEmpty within
- sunkenDescended beneath water level
pinched · emaciated · wasted · cadaverous · skeletal · withered · tired · worn
Woody perennial plant
- shrubSmall woody plant
- osierWillow for basketry
- wetlandWaterlogged land ecosystem
- catkinPendulous tree flower spike
bark · wicker · marshy · riverbank · swamp · riparian · coppice · cricket bat
Yellowing from bile pigment
- hepatitisInflammatory liver condition
- liverAbdominal detoxifying organ
- anemiaRed cell deficiency
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
fatigue · sickness · disease · fever · exhaustion · deficiency · ailment · infection
pallid
Unhealthily lacking color
yellowish · sickly · waxen · unhealthy · dull · muddy · jaundiced · allow · colorless · faded
gaunt
Lean from deprivation
sunken · pinched · emaciated · wasted · cadaverous · skeletal · withered · tired · worn · weary
tree
Woody perennial plant
catkin · bark · wicker · marshy · riverbank · swamp · riparian · coppice · cricket bat
jaundice
Yellowing from bile pigment
malnutrition · fatigue · sickness · disease · fever · exhaustion · deficiency · ailment · infection · cirrhosis
- skin descriptionssmooth, rough, dry, oily, fair
- Willows and Poplarspoplar, aspen, cottonwood, osier, white poplar
- pallorpale, pallid, wan, ashen, pasty
- uglyugly, hideous, unsightly, grotesque, repulsive
- Yellowsyellow, golden, canary, lemon, mustard
- colorlesscolorless, achromatic, hueless, desaturated, grayscale