Meaning & use
palette
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Meanings
nouncountable
A thin board, often with a thumb hole, on which an artist mixes paints.
Grammar: Has a plural: palettes.
Patterns
- mix paint on a palette
She squeezed fresh blue paint onto her palette.
The old palette was covered in dried splashes of color.
He held the palette in one hand and a brush in the other.
nouncountable
The set of colors an artist, designer or room uses.
Grammar: Often with adjectives: a muted palette, a warm palette.
Patterns
- a palette of something
- a limited palette
The painter used a muted palette of greys and browns.
Our living room has a warm palette of reds and golds.
The brand chose a bright palette for its new logo.
nouncountablefigurative
The full range of qualities or options available, such as flavors, sounds or styles.
Grammar: Figurative: a palette of flavors.
Patterns
- a palette of something
The chef worked with a palette of spices from many regions.
The composer had a rich palette of sounds to choose from.
A wide palette of fabrics was available.
nouncountablecomputing
A collection of tools or colors shown on a screen in software, from which users pick.
Grammar: Used in computing: a color palette.
Patterns
- a color palette
Choose a shade from the color palette on the screen.
The design app has a palette of brushes.
The older display supported only a small palette of 256 colors.
Word forms
| plural | palettes |
|---|
Common combinations
- color palette
- Pick a calm color palette for the bedroom.
- limited palette
- She painted with a limited palette.
- muted palette
- The film has a muted palette.
- rich palette
- The sunset offered a rich palette of oranges.
- palette knife
- He spread the paint with a palette knife.
Synonyms and how they differ
- scheme
- Scheme, as in color scheme, is a plan of how colors go together, while palette is the set of colors available.
- range
- Range is a general spread of options, while palette suggests color or artistic choice.
- spectrum
- Spectrum means a continuous band, not a chosen set like palette.
- selection
- Selection is neutral, while palette has an artistic tone.
Word family
- palettes noun
- plural form
- pallet noun
- a spelling-alike word for a wooden platform
- palette knife noun
- a blunt blade used to mix or spread paint
Commonly confused: palette or palate? palette or pallet?
palette vs palate
Palate is the roof of the mouth or sense of taste.
palette vs pallet
Pallet is a flat platform for carrying goods, or a simple bed.
Practice
Which word fits: Her taste for food is wide, with a refined ___.
Choose one answer.
Palate refers to sense of taste. Palette is for colors, and a pallet is a platform.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “palette”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.