Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
bistered

bistered

9.9
Having a brownish-yellow to grayish-brown color like old paper
  • adjective
translation icon : bistre
  • The ancient parchment appeared bistered after centuries of exposure to smoke and dust.

Examples

  • A bistered wash gave the landscape painting a warm, antique feeling.

  • The once-white ceiling became bistered from years of candle smoke.

  • The walls were bistered after years of neglect.

  • She painted the canvas with a bistered hue.

  • The ancient parchment appeared bistered after centuries of exposure to smoke and dust.

  • A bistered wash gave the landscape painting a warm, antique feeling.

  • The once-white ceiling became bistered from years of candle smoke.

Synonyms

bistred
vsbistered
9.9

Having a brownish or grayish brown color like old paper

is the same color sense but is a different written form
brunneous
vsbistered
  • Archaic
9.9

Brown in color

refers to a narrower brownish yellow or gray brown tint rather than general brown

Antonyms

colorless
  • US
12 2.9

Having very little or no color

How Brown

dark-brown
18 1.0
brown
939 1.0
bistered
9.9
tawny
8 6.0
tan
30 1.0
pale
291 1.0

Surface Forms

bistered positive

Morphology

bistered = bister (transparent) = bister + ed

Formed by straightforward suffixation: 'bister' (the brownish pigment/color) + '-ed' meaning 'having the color of bister'.

Etymology

Bistered comes from an old French word bistre, a brown color made from 'soot' or chimney smoke. So, something bistered is 'stained' brownish-yellow or grayish-brown, like old paper or a ceiling darkened by candle smoke.