tint

Everyday

1. A slight shade of a colour, a pale or light version of it. tree →
2. To add a light colour to something. tree →
3. A dye used to colour hair. tree →
4. Dark film on car windows or glasses to keep out sun. tree →

In the lessons

In art lessons pupils learn that a tint is made by adding white to a colour (and a «shade» by adding black). In everyday life: tinted windows, tinted sunglasses, hair tint. In stories: «the sky had a pink tint at sunset». Phrases: «a tint of», «tinted glass», «tinted windows», «rose-tinted glasses».

Examples

• The sky had a pink tint as the sun went down. tree →
• In art, we made tints by mixing white into blue. tree →
• The car has tinted windows. tree →
• Her sunglasses are tinted green. tree →
• She tinted her hair red for the concert. tree →
• (informal) He looks at his childhood through rose-tinted glasses. tree →
• The leaves of the forest put on colors of red and gold, and bright tints covered the woodlands. tree →

Note

Countable: «tints». «Rose-tinted glasses» (UK, also «rose-colored» in the US) means seeing things as better than they were. In art: tint = colour + white; shade = colour + black; tone = colour + grey.