waxen
Pale and smooth
Waxen describes something resembling wax—smooth, pale, and slightly translucent.
The word most often describes skin with an unhealthy pallor: Her face had a waxen quality after the illness.
Waxen can also mean made of wax, though this use is rare outside literary contexts: waxen candles, waxen figures.
The word carries connotations of lifelessness or artificiality.
Pale and unwell-looking
- pallidUnhealthily lacking color
- ashenPale, grayish-white
- blanchedMade white by heat
- bloodlessWithout shedding any gore
chalky · sallow · ghostly · cadaverous · colorless · lifeless · deathlike · corpselike
Resembling the deceased
- corpselikeResembling a dead body
- lifelessDevoid of animation
- rigidUnable to bend
- stiffNot easily bent
cold · still · embalmed · preserved · funereal · mortuary · mannequin · effigy
Narrow gradually toward point
- wickFuel-drawing cord
- drippingRendered cooking fat
- meltingSolid-to-liquid transition
- poolingMerging shared contributions
flickering · votary · pillar · tallow · paraffin · dipped · molded · scented
Without roughness or difficulty
- polishedSmooth, refined, accomplished
- glossySmooth and shiny
- sleekSmooth and elegant
- satinySmooth and lustrous
silken · buffed · lustrous · slick · soft · supple · pliable · malleable
Smooth and shiny
- lustrousSoftly bright, reflective
- gleamingReflecting light brightly
- shimmeringGleaming with wavering light
- glowingGiving off steady light
radiant · sheeny · reflective · burnished · candlelit · flickering · lambent · opalescent
wan
Pale and unwell-looking
bloodless · chalky · sallow · ghostly · cadaverous · colorless · lifeless · deathlike · corpselike · anemic
cadaverous
Resembling the deceased
- corpselikeResembling a dead body
- lifelessDevoid of animation
- rigidUnable to bend
stiff · cold · still · embalmed · preserved · funereal · mortuary · mannequin · effigy · mask
taper
Narrow gradually toward point
pooling · flickering · votary · pillar · tallow · paraffin · dipped · molded · scented · sealing
smooth
Without roughness or difficulty
satiny · silken · buffed · lustrous · slick · soft · supple · pliable · malleable · yielding
glossy
Smooth and shiny
- lustrousSoftly bright, reflective
- gleamingReflecting light brightly
- shimmeringGleaming with wavering light
glowing · radiant · sheeny · reflective · burnished · candlelit · flickering · lambent · opalescent · pearlescent
cuticle
Dead skin at nail base
- coatingApplied surface covering
- bloomFlower or flourishing state
- protectiveServing to guard
leaf · rind · peel · succulent · glossy · waterproof · epidermis · fruit · berry
- waxing poeticSpeaking with heightened eloquence
- wax paperCoated moisture-resistant sheeting
- waxed paperCoated food-wrapping sheets
- ear waxProtective canal secretion
- wax sealStamped adhesive closure
- hot waxHeated substance for removal
wax, waxy, waxing, waxed, beeswax, waxes, earwax, unwaxed, waxiness