etiolated

Adjective

etiolated (comparative more etiolated, superlative most etiolated)

1. Of a plant or part of a plant: pale and weak because of sunlight deprivation or excessive exposure to sunlight.
   • [T]he external leaves which enjoy the light are perfectly green, while those within, naturally or artificially covered up and involved in darkness, are blanched or etiolated; they are thereby rendered white, soft, delicate, and tender, and lose the taste and flavour of the native plant in its green...1806 August 11, “Extracts from Fourcroy on the Philosophy of Vegetation, Translated and Abridged by a Correspondent”, in The Farmer’s Magazine: A Periodical Work Exclusively Devoted to Agriculture...
   • If there is too great an accumulation of oxygen, as when a plant is kept in a dark place, then it will grow towards the nearest ray of light, which if it does not reach, it will remain white, or etiolated, and sickly.1835, J[ohn] L[ee] Comstock, “The Leaf. (Folium.)”, in An Introduction to the Study of Botany; […], 3rd edition, New York, N.Y.: Robinson, Pratt, & Co. […], →OCLC, page 43

   Synonyms:

   etiolized

   Antonyms:

   nonetiolated

2. Of a plant: intentionally grown in the dark.
   • It is a fact well known to gardeners, that plants, when blanched, lose many of their active properties; and dandelion thus prepared, is frequently eaten on the continent in salads; [...] The French eat the young roots, and the etiolated leaves, with thin slices of bread and butter; [...]1831, John Stephenson, James Morss Churchill, “Leontodon taraxacum. Common Dandelion.”, in Medical Botany: Or, Illustrations and Descriptions of the Medicinal Plants of the London, Edinburgh, and...
   • When deprived of light, says Dr. Irvine, all plants nearly agree in the qualities of their juices. The most pungent vegetables then grow insipid; the highest flavoured, inodorous; and those of the most variegated colours are of a uniform whiteness. [...] The results of analysis perfectly accord...1842, “Vegetable Physiology”, in The Encyclopædia Britannica, or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and General Literature, 7th edition, volume XXI, Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, →OCLC, article V...

   Antonyms:

   deetiolated

3. (broadly) Of an animal or person: having an ashen or pale appearance; also, haggard or thin; physically weak.
   • Birds inhabiting desert regions have an etiolated appearance.
   • [I]t muſt be obſerved that both vegetable and animal ſubſtances become bleached white by the ſun-beams when they are dead, as cabbage-ſtalks, bones, ivory, tallow, bees-wax, linen and cotton cloth; and hence I ſuppoſe the copper-coloured natives of ſunny countries might become etiolated or blanched...1791, [Erasmus Darwin], “Additional Notes. Note XXXIV.—Vegetable Perspiration.”, in The Botanic Garden; a Poem, in Two Parts. […], London: J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, part I (The Economy of...

   Synonyms:

   emaciated, cadaverous, corpse-like, unburied

4. (figuratively) Lacking in vigour; anemic, feeble.
   • I am concerned about Joe Bloggs, the ordinary bloke on the shop floor. Whatever esoteric phraseology the Government use and whatever etiolated formulae the Government give birth to, they will not persuade me that if Joe Bloggs can not get an increase which he is claiming because he is prevented...1975 July 22, Ian Mikardo, “Attack on Inflation”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): House of Commons Official Report (House of Commons of the United Kingdom), volume 896, London: Her Majesty’s...
   • Convinced republican that I am, and foe of the Prince [Charles, Prince of Wales] who talks to plants and wants to be crowned "head of all faiths" as well as the etiolated Church of England, I find myself pierced by a pang of sympathy.2011 April 21, Christopher Hitchens, “Middleton would do well to escape the Royal Family sideshow”, in The National Post, Toronto, Ont.: Postmedia Network, →ISSN, →OCLC