mauve

plural mauves

1. countablehistoricaluncountableA rich purple synthetic dye, which faded easily, briefly popular c. 1859‒1873 and now called mauveine.
2. countableuncountableA pale purple or violet colour, like the colour of the dye after it has faded.

   Never trust a woman who wears mauve, whatever her age may be, or a woman over thirty-five who is fond of pink ribbons.

   1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter VIII, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, page 151

comparative mauver · comparative more mauve · superlative mauvest · superlative most mauve

1. Having a pale purple colour.

   [A]long their time-marked walls wistaria threw patches of mauve blossom.

   1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XXII, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 222