Ashen
//ˈæʃ.ən// adj, verb
adj, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To turn into ash; make or become ashy ambitransitive
- 2 To make or become pale ambitransitive
Adjective
- 1 Made from the wood of the ash-tree.
"An ashen bow and quiver of arrows beside."
- 2 Of or resembling ashes.
"A fine, ashen dust hung in the air."
- 3 Ash-colored; pale; anemic
"His ashen face belied his claims of good health."
- 4 Appalled; upset.
- 5 Anaemic.
Adjective
- 1 anemic looking from illness or emotion wordnet
- 2 made of wood of the ash tree wordnet
Example
More examples"The dragon breathed fire and exhaled its sooty ashen remains."
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English asshen, aisshen, esscen, from Old English æsċen (“made of ashwood”), equivalent to ash + -en (“made or consisting of”). Cognate with Scots aschin, eschin (“ashen”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English asshen, axen (“ash-colored; pale; lifeless”). By surface analysis, ash + -en (“made or consisting of”).
Etymology 3
From ash + -en (verbal suffix).
Related phrases
More for "ashen"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.