fade away

present singular third person fades away · participle present fading away · participle past faded away · past faded away

1. To lose strength, become weaker; to wane; to disappear or reduce slowly.

   I was angry at first, but my rage faded away over time.

   3 more examples

   The stars shall fade away.

   1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 57

   "I felt my strength fading away, and I was in a half swoon. How long this horrible thing lasted I know not, but it seemed that a long time must have passed before he took his foul, awful, sneering mouth away. I saw it drip with the fresh blood!"

   1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC

   The sun is fading away That's the end of the day

   1963, The Beatles, “I'll Be on My Way”

   Synonyms: die, wither

1. artA painting technique in which young women's clothes fade into the background.

   Hirschfeld captured many scenes in line and employed Coles Phillips's "fade away" technique in his painting on the left.

   2015, David Leopold, The Hirschfeld Century

   2 more examples

   Phillips became known for the "fade away, in which the main figures' clothing is the same color as the background, allowing the elements to partially blend.

   2009, Alison A. Nieder, Jim Heimann, 100 Ans de Pubs de Mode, page 1879

   In Phillip's "Fade Away" style, he is literally editing out elements (by making them the same flat color as the background), but those elements are still there.

   2019, Coles Phillips, Fadeaway: The Remarkable Imagery of Coles Phillips