Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having low intensity; restrained, as in style or quality; subdued.
  • adjective Having or producing uniformly dark tones with few areas of contrast, as in a photograph or film.

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

  • adjective restrained in style or quality; not flashy or intense; understated.

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

  • adjective restrained, subtle, not trying to attract attention
  • adjective photography dark, with little or no fill light and high lighting ratio.

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

  • adjective restrained in style or quality

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From key light.

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