Meaning & use
pewter
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
A soft gray metal mixture, mostly tin with small amounts of other metals, used for mugs, plates and decorative objects.
Grammar: Uncountable as a material: a mug made of pewter.
Patterns
- made of pewter
My grandfather kept a pewter tankard on the shelf.
The old inn served ale in heavy pewter mugs.
Pewter is soft enough to be shaped with simple tools.
noununcountable
A dull bluish-gray color like the metal.
Grammar: Used as a color name, often before a noun: a pewter sky.
The sky turned a dark pewter before the storm.
She chose pewter for the kitchen cabinets.
The cat has a coat of soft pewter with white paws.
Common combinations
- pewter mug
- He drank from a pewter mug.
- pewter tankard
- A pewter tankard hung behind the bar.
- pewter gray
- The walls are painted pewter gray.
- pewter plate
- They ate from pewter plates in the museum's colonial kitchen.
- antique pewter
- Antique pewter can be quite valuable.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tin
- Tin is the main metal in pewter, but pewter is a mixture and is usually harder and used for decorative items.
- silver-gray
- Silver-gray is a lighter, shinier color than the duller, bluer pewter.
- slate
- Slate is a darker, flatter gray color, whereas pewter has a slightly metallic softness.
Word family
- pewterer noun
- a craftsperson who makes pewter objects
- pewterware noun
- dishes and objects made of pewter
- pewter-colored adjective
- having a dull bluish-gray color
Commonly confused: pewter or pweter? pewter or puter?
pewter vs pweter
Pweter is a common misspelling; the correct spelling is pewter with the e after the w.
pewter vs puter
Puter is not a standard word; people sometimes mis-hear pewter that way.
Practice
What is pewter mostly made from?
Choose one answer.
Pewter is mainly tin with small amounts of other metals. Gold, iron and copper are not its main ingredient.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pewter”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.