Meanings
comparative more lightfast · superlative most lightfast
- Resistant to fading.
Verdigris is lightfast in oil paint, as numerous examples of fifteenth-century paintings show.
3 more examples
Some ink-and-paper combinations are more lightfast than others, and the resulting prints are more fade-resistant.
2004, Peter K. Burian, Masteringdigital Photography and Imaging, page 75Tara, a gallotannin, is often quoted as being the most lightfast vegetable tannin and makes very pale coloured leather.
2009, Anthony Covington, Tony Covington, Tanning Chemistry: The Science of Leather, page 286The blue, or cyan, is the most lightfast ink used in the printing process, so it lasts the longest. That blue, incidentally, is the phthalocyanine blue pigment. You can easily test to determine whether any material is lightfast.
2010, Sherry Stone Clifton, Anita Marie Giddings, Pastels For Dummies, unnumbered pageSynonyms: nonfading, unfadeable, colorfast
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveResistant to fading.
Origin
From light + fast. Compare Icelandic litfast (“colourfast”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish valonkestävä
- valonkestäväresistant to fading
German lichtecht
- lichtechtresistant to fading
Russian светостойкий, светопрочный
- светостойкий (svetostojkij)resistant to fading
- светопрочный (svetopročnyj)resistant to fading
Spanish no desteñible
- no desteñibleresistant to fading
Ukrainian світлостійки́й
- світлостійки́й (svitlostijkýj)resistant to fading
Vietnamese bền
- bềnresistant to fading
Cite this entry
lightfast. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lightfast
“lightfast.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lightfast. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lightfast,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lightfast.
Source: lightfast on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.