tan
noun · adjective · verb
Simple meaning
A light brown color.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tanIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtæn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A light brown color.
A light brown the color of topaz
A light, brown-like colour.
The bark of an oak or other tree from which tannic acid is obtained.
A browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun
A darkening of the skin resulting from exposure to sunlight or similar light sources.
adjective
Yellowish-brown.
Having dark skin as a result of exposure to the sun or an artificial process intended to mimic this effect.
verb
transitiveintransitive
To change to a tan colour due to exposure to the sun.
Get a tan, from wind or sun
Treat skins and hides with tannic acid so as to convert them into leather
transitive
To change an animal hide into leather by soaking it in tannic acid.
transitiveinformal
To spank or beat.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: a light brown color.
Used this way, tan is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use tan
- “She still has a tan from her vacation in Mexico.”noun
- “Mine is the white car parked next to the tan pickup truck.”adjective
- “You're looking very tan this week.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.