Tanned vs. White: What's the Difference?
Edited by Huma Saeed || By Sawaira Riaz || Updated on September 22, 2023
"Tanned" refers to skin darkened by sun exposure or artificial means. "White" can refer to a color, often associated with purity or cleanliness, or describe a person of a particular ethnic background.
Key Differences
"Tanned" generally refers to a darker skin tone achieved through exposure to sunlight or artificial UV radiation. The process of tanning is essentially the skin's way of protecting itself from further damage by UV rays. "White," on the other hand, can refer to a range of things, from the color opposite of black to describing people who are primarily of European descent. When used to describe skin color, "white" usually implies a lighter skin tone, often less prone to tanning.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 22, 2023
In certain cultural and geographical contexts, having "tanned" skin might be viewed as attractive or indicative of an active, outdoor lifestyle. Conversely, "white" skin has been variously associated with beauty, purity, or social status in different cultures and historical periods. These perceptions are culturally constructed and have evolved over time.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 22, 2023
Grammatically, "tanned" is often used as an adjective or a past participle. For example, "He is tanned" or "She has tanned skin." "White" is primarily an adjective, as in "a white shirt" or "white skin." It can also serve as a noun when referring to the Caucasian race or the color itself, as in "whites" or "a palette of whites."
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 22, 2023
While both "tanned" and "white" can refer to human skin color, their implications go beyond mere description. "Tanned" can suggest that someone has recently been exposed to the sun or enjoys outdoor activities. "White" can imply a variety of meanings depending on the context—whether referring to color, race, or even symbolism like purity or innocence.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 22, 2023
Comparison Chart
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Cultural Context
Often seen as attractive
Varied meanings in different cultures
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 22, 2023
Tanned and White Definitions
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Tanned
UV-induced skin color
Her tanned skin was a result of regular sunbathing.
Janet White
Sep 22, 2023
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Tanned
To convert (an animal hide) into leather by subjecting it to a chemical process that stabilizes the proteins, making it less susceptible to decay.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
The achromatic color of maximum lightness; the color of objects that reflect nearly all light of all visible wavelengths; the complement or antagonist of black, the other extreme of the neutral gray series. Although typically a response to maximum stimulation of the retina, the perception of white appears always to depend on contrast.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
Tanned
To make (a person or a person's skin) darker by exposure to artificial sunlight or by the application of certain chemicals, often in the form of sprays or lotions.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
Tanned
To become darker from exposure to the sun or artificial sunlight, or from the application of certain chemicals.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Any of various butterflies of the subfamily Pierinae, characteristically having chiefly white wings often with black markings.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Also White A member of a racial group having light-colored skin, especially when of European origin and in some classifications also when of Middle Eastern or North African origin.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Often whites Products of a white color, such as flour, salt, and sugar.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
Tanned
Having a suntan.
You're looking very tanned.
Tanned bodies lying on the beach
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
Tanned
(of leather) Finished, made using tannic acid (as opposed to abrasion).
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
Tanned
(of skin) having a tan color from exposure to the sun;
A young bronzed Apollo
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
White A member of a conservative or counterrevolutionary faction, especially one opposing the Bolsheviks in the Russian civil war.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
Tanned
Descriptive of active lifestyle
His tanned complexion suggests he spends time outdoors.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 22, 2023
White
Light or whitish in color or having light or whitish parts. Used with animal and plant names.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Also White Of or belonging to a racial group of people having light-colored skin, especially when of European origin, and in some classifications also when of Middle Eastern or North African origin
Voting patterns within the white population.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
White Of or relating to a conservative or counterrevolutionary faction, especially one opposing the Bolsheviks in the Russian civil war.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
(Printing) To cover or make illegible with white coloring. Often used with out.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Bright and colourless; reflecting equal quantities of all frequencies of visible light.
Write in black ink on white paper.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
(sometimes capitalized) Of or relating to Caucasians, people of European descent with light-coloured skin.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
The standard denomination of the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the white set, no matter what the actual colour.
The white pieces in this set are in fact made of light green glass.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Pertaining to an ecclesiastical order whose adherents dress in white habits; Cistercian.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
(archaic) Characterized by freedom from that which disturbs, and the like; fortunate; happy; favourable.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
(politics) Pertaining to constitutional or anti-revolutionary political parties or movements.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
(typography) Said of a symbol or character outline, not solid, not filled with color. Compare said of a character or symbol filled with color.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
The color/colour of snow or milk; the colour of light containing equal amounts of all visible wavelengths.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
(archery) The central part of the butt, which was formerly painted white; the centre of a mark at which a missile is shot.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
The enclosed part of a letter of the alphabet, especially when handwritten.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
A feather, from the wing of the cock ostrich, that is of the palest possible shade.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Reflecting to the eye all the rays of the spectrum combined; not tinted with any of the proper colors or their mixtures; having the color of pure snow; snowy; - the opposite of black or dark; as, white paper; a white skin.
White as the whitest lily on a stream.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Destitute of color, as in the cheeks, or of the tinge of blood color; pale; pallid; as, white with fear.
Or whispering with white lips, "The foe!They come! they come!"
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Having the color of purity; free from spot or blemish, or from guilt or pollution; innocent; pure.
White as thy fame, and as thy honor clear.
No whiter page than Addison's remains.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Gray, as from age; having silvery hair; hoary.
Your high engendered battles 'gainst a headSo old and white as this.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Characterized by freedom from that which disturbs, and the like; fortunate; happy; favorable.
On the whole, however, the dominie reckoned this as one of the white days of his life.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Regarded with especial favor; favorite; darling.
Come forth, my white spouse.
I am his white boy, and will not be gullet.
Driving their cattle continually with them, and feeding only upon their milk and white meats.
A pistol charged with white powder.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Something having the color of snow; something white, or nearly so; as, the white of the eye.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Specifically, the central part of the butt in archery, which was formerly painted white; the center of a mark at which a missile is shot.
'T was I won the wager, though you hit the white.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
A person with a white skin; a member of the white, or Caucasian, races of men.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Any one of numerous species of butterflies belonging to Pieris, and allied genera in which the color is usually white. See Cabbage butterfly, under Cabbage.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
To make white; to whiten; to whitewash; to bleach.
Whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of . . . uncleanness.
So as no fuller on earth can white them.
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
The quality or state of the achromatic color of greatest lightness (bearing the least resemblance to black)
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
United States educator who in 1865 (with Ezra Cornell) founded Cornell University and served as its first president (1832-1918)
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
A tributary of the Mississippi River that flows southeastward through northern Arkansas and southern Missouri
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Being of the achromatic color of maximum lightness; having little or no hue owing to reflection of almost all incident light;
As white as fresh snow
A bride's white dress
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Of or belonging to a racial group having light skin coloration;
Voting patterns within the white population
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Marked by the presence of snow;
A white Christmas
The white hills of a northern winter
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Restricted to whites only;
Under segregation there were even white restrooms and white drinking fountains
A lily-white movement which would expel Negroes from the organization
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Benevolent; without malicious intent;
White magic
A white lie
That's white of you
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Of a surface; not written or printed on;
Blank pages
Fill in the blank spaces
A clean page
Wide white margins
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Ash-colored or anemic looking from illness or emotion;
A face turned ashen
The invalid's blanched cheeks
Tried to speak with bloodless lips
A face livid with shock
Lips...livid with the hue of death
Lips white with terror
A face white with rage
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Of summer nights in northern latitudes where the sun barely sets;
White nights
Sawaira Riaz
Apr 10, 2023
White
Denoting lightness or fairness
Her white skin was sensitive to the sun.
Aimie Carlson
Sep 22, 2023
FAQs
Is tanning healthy?
Excessive tanning can be harmful and increase the risk of skin cancer.
Aimie Carlson
Sep 22, 2023
Can you get tanned in a tanning bed?
Yes, tanning beds can produce a tanned appearance, though they carry health risks.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 22, 2023
Is white a color?
In terms of light, white is a combination of all colors. In pigment, it is the absence of color.
Aimie Carlson
Sep 22, 2023
Is tanned skin permanent?
No, tanned skin usually fades over time without continued sun exposure.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 22, 2023
Is tanned skin more resistant to sunburn?
To some extent, but tanned skin is not a substitute for sunscreen.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 22, 2023
Is 'white' used in other contexts?
Yes, 'white' can refer to emotions like fear or surprise, e.g., "white as a ghost."
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 22, 2023
What does 'whitewashing' mean?
Whitewashing can refer to covering up flaws or underrepresentation of non-white characters in media.
Aimie Carlson
Sep 22, 2023
Can everyone's skin get tanned?
Some people tan more easily than others due to differences in skin type.
Aimie Carlson
Sep 22, 2023
What is 'sunless tanning'?
Sunless tanning refers to products like sprays or lotions that can simulate a tanned appearance.
Sara Rehman
Sep 22, 2023
What does 'white' mean in racial terms?
"White" often refers to people primarily of European descent.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 22, 2023
Can 'white' refer to things other than race and color?
Yes, 'white' can symbolize purity or cleanliness, among other meanings.
Aimie Carlson
Sep 22, 2023
Are tanning products safe?
The safety of tanning products varies; always read labels and consult with healthcare providers.
Harlon Moss
Sep 22, 2023
What is 'white noise'?
White noise is a consistent sound that drowns out other noises, not related to color or race.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 22, 2023
How do you maintain a tan?
Maintaining a tan usually requires ongoing sun exposure or use of tanning products, but it's important to do so safely.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 22, 2023
Is white always associated with purity?
The association between white and purity is largely cultural and can vary.
Sara Rehman
Sep 22, 2023
About Author
Written by
Sawaira RiazSawaira is a dedicated content editor at difference.wiki, where she meticulously refines articles to ensure clarity and accuracy. With a keen eye for detail, she upholds the site's commitment to delivering insightful and precise content.
Edited by
Huma SaeedHuma is a renowned researcher acclaimed for her innovative work in Difference Wiki. Her dedication has led to key breakthroughs, establishing her prominence in academia. Her contributions continually inspire and guide her field.
