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Shrink vs Fade - What's the difference?

shrink | fade |

In transitive terms the difference between shrink and fade

is that shrink is to draw back; to withdraw while fade is to cause to fade.

In intransitive terms the difference between shrink and fade

is that shrink is to cower or flinch while fade is to sink away; to disappear gradually; to grow dim; to vanish.

As an adjective fade is

strong; bold; doughty.

shrink

English

Verb

  • To cause to become smaller.
  • The dryer shrank my sweater.
  • To become smaller; to contract.
  • This garment will shrink when wet.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • I have not found that water, by mixture of ashes, will shrink or draw into less room.
  • * Dryden
  • And shrink like parchment in consuming fire.
  • To cower or flinch.
  • Molly shrank away from the blows of the whip.
  • To draw back; to withdraw.
  • * Milton
  • The Libya Hammon shrinks his horn.
  • (figuratively) To withdraw or retire, as from danger.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • What happier natures shrink at with affright, / The hard inhabitant contends is right.
  • * Jowett (Thucyd.)
  • They assisted us against the Thebans when you shrank from the task.

    Synonyms

    * (avoid an unwanted task) funk, shirk

    Antonyms

    * (to cause to become smaller) expand, grow, enlarge, stretch * (become smaller) expand, grow, enlarge, stretch

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • shrinkage; contraction; recoil
  • Yet almost wish, with sudden shrink , / That I had less to praise. — Leigh Hunt.
  • (slang, sometimes, pejorative) A psychiatrist or therapist; a head-shrinker.
  • You need to see a shrink .
    My shrink said that he was an enabler, bad for me.
  • * 1994 , (Green Day),
  • I went to a shrink , to analyze my dreams. He said it's lack of sex that's bringing my down.''

    Usage notes

    * The slang sense was originally pejorative, expressing a distrust of practitioners in the field. It is now not as belittling or trivializing.

    Synonyms

    * head-shrinker

    fade

    English

    (wikipedia fade)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) fade, fede, of uncertain origin. Compare (etyl) . See also (l).

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • (archaic) Strong; bold; doughty
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) fade, vad, .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (archaic) Weak; insipid; tasteless; commonplace.
  • * Jeffery
  • Passages that are somewhat fade .
  • * De Quincey
  • His masculine taste gave him a sense of something fade and ludicrous.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (golf) A golf shot that (for the right-handed player) curves intentionally to the right. See slice, hook, draw.
  • A haircut where the hair is short or shaved on the sides of the head and longer on top. See also high-top fade and low fade.
  • (slang) A fight
  • Verb

    (fad)
  • To become faded; to grow weak; to lose strength; to decay; to perish gradually; to wither, as a plant.
  • * Bible, Is. xxiv. 4
  • The earth mourneth and fadeth away.
  • To lose freshness, color, or brightness; to become faint in hue or tint; hence, to be wanting in color.
  • * Milton
  • flowers that never fade
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. To display them the walls had been tinted a vivid blue which had now faded , but the carpet, which had evidently been stored and recently relaid, retained its original turquoise.}}
  • To sink away; to disappear gradually; to grow dim; to vanish.
  • The milkman's whistling faded into the distance.
  • * Addison
  • The stars shall fade away.
  • * Shakespeare
  • He makes a swanlike end, / Fading in music.
  • * 1856 : (Gustave Flaubert), (Madame Bovary), Part III Chapter XI, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
  • A strange thing was that Bovary, while continually thinking of Emma, was forgetting her. He grew desperate as he felt this image fading from his memory in spite of all efforts to retain it. Yet every night he dreamt of her; it was always the same dream. He drew near her, but when he was about to clasp her she fell into decay in his arms.
  • To cause to fade.
  • Synonyms
    * decrease, wane, become smaller (sort out synonyms by senses)

    Anagrams

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