Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to the ash-tree or its timber; made of ash.
  • Consisting of or resembling ashes; ash-colored: as, “the ashen hue of age,”
  • noun Obsolete plural of ash.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Consisting of, or resembling, ashes; of a color between brown and gray, or white and gray.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to the ash tree.
  • noun obs. pl. for ashes.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Made from the wood of the ash tree.
  • adjective Of or resembling ashes.
  • adjective Ash-colored; pale; anemic.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective anemic looking from illness or emotion
  • adjective made of wood of the ash tree

Etymologies

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Examples

  • They have found kind of ashen remains they believe are Kenneth Countie ` s.

    CNN Transcript May 16, 2006 2006

  • Still "ashen" having driven all the way back to/from San Diego after seeing a driver back up to an off-ramp?

    Help !? What to do in BAJA 2003

  • Forgive me Brian, but if those kind of things make one "ashen" I'm slightly surprized you travel in Mexico at all!

    Help !? What to do in BAJA 2003

  • Then Eleanor's hair, which was heavy and straight and a kind of ashen brown, was always worn parted in the middle and fixed in a great loose knot at the back of her neck.

    The Camp Fire Girls at Sunrise Hill Margaret Vandercook

  • However, in light of recent events, we take our original assessment back, recalling the ashen expression on Ms. Waldman’s face, and her unnerving sense that she was encountering some literary huckster there only to talk with other authors and drink free merlot partly true and that this, as written in her frown and her dilated eyes, was in some sense a damning crime against the human race.

    The Waldman Contretemps : Edward Champion’s Reluctant Habits 2005

  • Fresh from an "ashen" escape, Manmohan walked into the volcano today

    Gaea Times (by Simple Thoughts) Breaking News and incisive views 24/7 Ians 2010

  • He asked, “Are there any dead?” and he turned absolutely ashen.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • He asked, “Are there any dead?” and he turned absolutely ashen.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • He was on the verge of physical collapse and his face was ashen.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • He was on the verge of physical collapse and his face was ashen.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

Comments

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  • Famously used to describe the facial skintone of Neasden manager Ron Knee, aged 59. More info.

    October 23, 2007