Word.ws English Dictionary

fading

/ˈfeɪdɪŋ/

fading is the present participle and gerund of fade.

Noun

fading (plural fadings)

  1. The process by which something fades; gradual diminishment.
    • […] the rude earth of the wall had no painted lustre to shed off all fadings and tarnish […]1854, Herman Melville, Israel Potter
  2. (obsolete) An Irish dance.
    • Fading is a fine jig.1607 (first performance), Francis Beaumont, “The Knight of the Burning Pestle”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC...
  3. (obsolete) The burden of a song.
    • He has the prettiest love songs for maids, so without bawdry, which is strange with such delicate burdens of dildos and fadingsc. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

Meaning of fade

Verb

fade (third-person singular simple present fades, present participle fading, simple past and past participle faded)

  1. (transitive) To hit the ball with the shot called a fade.
    • The Golden Bear faded the ball from left to right with great consistency, so he seldom had to worry about trouble on the left.2011, Gary McCord, Golf For Dummies, page 284
  2. (intransitive) To grow weak; to lose strength; to decay; to perish gradually; to wither, as a plant.
    • The earth mourneth and fadeth away.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 24:4
    Synonyms:
    weaken, wither
  3. (intransitive) To lose freshness, color, or brightness; to become faint in hue or tint; hence, to be wanting in color.
    • [flowers] that never fade1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
    Synonyms:
    blanch, bleach
  4. (intransitive) To sink away; to disappear gradually; to grow dim; to vanish.
    • The milkman's whistling faded into the distance.
    Synonyms:
    decrease, diminish, wane
  5. (transitive) To cause to fade.
  6. (transitive) To bet against (someone).
    • I tried to get some bets that y'all were fixin' to get married but nobody would fade me.2016, Johnny Hughes, A Texas Beauty, Smart and Strong

See all 13 meanings of fade

Forms of fading

pluralfadings

Words formed from fading

Phrases with fading

Words that rhyme with fading

Questions about fading

What does fading mean?
Fading means the process by which something fades; gradual diminishment.
What is fading the present participle and gerund of?
Fading is the present participle and gerund of fade.
What part of speech is fading?
Fading is a noun.
How do you pronounce fading?
Fading is pronounced /ˈfeɪdɪŋ/.
What is the plural of fading?
The plural of fading is fadings.

Words near fading in the dictionary

  1. fadged
  2. fadger
  3. fadgers
  4. fadges
  5. fadging
  6. fading
  7. fading away
  8. fading in
  9. fading out
  10. fading time
  11. fading times

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: fading (page history and authors); fade (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-fading.ogg.

Cite this entry: “fading.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fading. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.