undertone, tinge
(noun) a pale or subdued color
touch, hint, tinge, mite, pinch, jot, speck, soupcon
(noun) a slight but appreciable amount; “this dish could use a touch of garlic”
tint, tinct, tinge, touch
(verb) color lightly; “her greying hair was tinged blond”; “the leaves were tinged red in November”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
tinge (plural tinges)
A small added amount of colour; (by extension) a small added amount of some other thing.
Synonyms: tincture, teint, teinture (the latter two obsolete)
The degree of vividness of a colour; hue, shade, tint.
tinge (third-person singular simple present tinges, present participle tingeing or tinging, simple past and past participle tinged)
(transitive) To add a small amount of colour; to tint; (by extension) to add a small amount of some other thing.
Synonym: tinct
(transitive, figuratively) To affect or alter slightly, particularly due to the actual or metaphorical influence of some element or thing.
(intransitive) To change slightly in shade due to the addition of colour; (by extension) to change slightly in quality due to the addition of some other thing.
• Teign, get in, get-in
Source: Wiktionary
Tinge, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tinged; p. pr. & vb. n. Tingeing.] Etym: [L. tingere, tinctum, to dye, stain, wet; akin to Gr. tunken to dip, OHG. tunchon, dunchon, thunkon. Cf. Distain, Dunker, Stain, Taint a stain, to stain, Tincture, Tint.]
Definition: To imbue or impregnate with something different or foreign; as, to tinge a decoction with a bitter taste; to affect in some degree with the qualities of another substance, either by mixture, or by application to the surface; especially, to color slightly; to stain; as, to tinge a blue color with red; an infusion tinged with a yellow color by saffron. His [Sir Roger's] virtues, as well as imperfections, are tinged by a certain extravagance. Addison.
Syn.
– To color; dye; stain.
Tinge, n.
Definition: A degree, usually a slight degree, of some color, taste, or something foreign, infused into another substance or mixture, or added to it; tincture; color; dye; hue; shade; taste. His notions, too, respecting the government of the state, took a tinge from his notions respecting the government of the church. Macaulay.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
2 April 2025
(adjective) secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; “covert actions by the CIA”; “covert funding for the rebels”
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
