Tanned vs. White: What's the Difference?
Edited by Aimie Carlson || By Janet White || 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.
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.
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."
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.
Comparison Chart
Part of Speech
Adjective, Past Participle
Adjective, Noun
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Refers to
Darkened skin tone
Color, Ethnicity, Lighter skin tone
Cultural Context
Often seen as attractive
Varied meanings in different cultures
Usage in Sentences
"He is tanned"
"She is white"
Symbolism
Active, outdoor lifestyle
Purity, cleanliness
Tanned and White Definitions
Tanned
Artificially bronzed
He used a tanning bed to get tanned.
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White
Of European descent
She is white by ethnicity.
Tanned
Processed animal hide
The tanned leather was used for making shoes.
White
Symbol of purity
The white dove is a universal symbol of peace.
Tanned
UV-induced skin color
Her tanned skin was a result of regular sunbathing.
White
Lacking color
He was white as a sheet when he heard the news.
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.
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.
Tanned
To make (a person or a person's skin) darker by exposure to the sun.
White
The albumen of an egg.
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.
White
The white part of an eyeball.
Tanned
(Informal) To thrash; beat.
White
A blank or unprinted area, as of an advertisement.
Tanned
To become darker from exposure to the sun or artificial sunlight, or from the application of certain chemicals.
White
Whites Pieces of laundry having a white or nearly white color.
Tanned
A light or moderate yellowish brown to brownish orange.
White
Whites White pants or a white outfit of a special nature
Tennis whites.
Tanned
A suntan.
White
Whites The white dress uniform of the US Navy or Coast Guard.
Tanned
An artificially created suntan.
White
A white wine.
Tanned
Tanbark.
White
A white pigment.
Tanned
Tannin.
White
A white breed, species, or variety of animal.
Tanned
A solution derived from tannin.
White
Any of various butterflies of the subfamily Pierinae, characteristically having chiefly white wings often with black markings.
Tanned
Light or moderate yellowish-brown to brownish-orange.
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.
Tanned
Having a suntan or the appearance of a suntan.
White
Often whites Products of a white color, such as flour, salt, and sugar.
Tanned
Used in or relating to tanning.
White
The white or light-colored pieces, as in chess.
Tanned
Having a suntan.
You're looking very tanned.
Tanned bodies lying on the beach
White
The player using these pieces.
Tanned
(of leather) Finished, made using tannic acid (as opposed to abrasion).
White
The outermost ring of an archery target.
Tanned
Simple past tense and past participle of tan
White
A hit in this ring.
Tanned
(of skin) having a tan color from exposure to the sun;
A young bronzed Apollo
White
Whites(Medicine) Leukorrhea.
Tanned
Converted to leather by a tanning agent
White
White A member of a conservative or counterrevolutionary faction, especially one opposing the Bolsheviks in the Russian civil war.
Tanned
Darkened by the sun
She got tanned after her beach vacation.
White
Being of the color white; devoid of hue, as new snow.
Tanned
Descriptive of active lifestyle
His tanned complexion suggests he spends time outdoors.
White
Weakly colored; almost colorless; pale
White wine.
White
Pale gray; silvery and lustrous
White hair.
White
Bloodless; blanched.
White
Light or whitish in color or having light or whitish parts. Used with animal and plant names.
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.
White
Habited in white
White nuns.
White
Accompanied by or mantled with snow
A white Christmas.
White
Incandescent
White flames.
White
Intensely heated; impassioned
White with fury.
White
White Of or relating to a conservative or counterrevolutionary faction, especially one opposing the Bolsheviks in the Russian civil war.
White
With milk added. Used of tea or coffee.
White
(Archaic) Unsullied; pure.
White
(Printing) To cover or make illegible with white coloring. Often used with out.
White
Bright and colourless; reflecting equal quantities of all frequencies of visible light.
Write in black ink on white paper.
White
(sometimes capitalized) Of or relating to Caucasians, people of European descent with light-coloured skin.
White
Designated for use by Caucasians.
White drinking fountain
White hospital
White
Relatively light or pale in colour.
White wine
White grapes
White birch
White
Pale or pallid, as from fear, illness, etc.
White
Lacking coloration (tan) from ultraviolet light; not tanned.
White
Affected by leucism.
White
(of coffee or tea) Containing cream, milk, or creamer.
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.
White
Pertaining to an ecclesiastical order whose adherents dress in white habits; Cistercian.
White
Honourable, fair; decent.
White
Grey, as from old age; having silvery hair; hoary.
White
(archaic) Characterized by freedom from that which disturbs, and the like; fortunate; happy; favourable.
White
(obsolete) Regarded with especial favour; favourite; darling.
White
(politics) Pertaining to constitutional or anti-revolutionary political parties or movements.
White
(of tea) Made from immature leaves and shoots.
White
(typography) Not containing characters; see white space.
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.
White
Characterised by the presence of snow.
A white Christmas
A white Easter
White
(of a set of armor) Alwhite, pertaining to white armor.
White
The color/colour of snow or milk; the colour of light containing equal amounts of all visible wavelengths.
White
A person of European descent with light-coloured skin.
White
Any butterfly of the subfamily Pierinae in the family Pieridae.
White
White wine.
White
White coffee
White
(countable) Any object or substance that is of the color white.
White
The albumen of bird eggs (egg white).
White
(anatomy) The sclera, white of the eye.
White
The cue ball in cue games.
White
Cocaine
White
The snow- or ice-covered "green" in snow golf.
White
A white pigment.
Venice white
White
A white bean
White
(archery) The central part of the butt, which was formerly painted white; the centre of a mark at which a missile is shot.
White
The enclosed part of a letter of the alphabet, especially when handwritten.
White
A feather, from the wing of the cock ostrich, that is of the palest possible shade.
White
(transitive) To make white; to whiten; to bleach.
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.
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!"
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.
White
Gray, as from age; having silvery hair; hoary.
Your high engendered battles 'gainst a headSo old and white as this.
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.
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.
White
Something having the color of snow; something white, or nearly so; as, the white of the eye.
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.
White
A person with a white skin; a member of the white, or Caucasian, races of men.
White
A white pigment; as, Venice white.
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.
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.
White
A member of the Caucasoid race
White
The quality or state of the achromatic color of greatest lightness (bearing the least resemblance to black)
White
Australian writer (1912-1990)
White
United States political journalist (1915-1986)
White
United States architect (1853-1906)
White
United States writer noted for his humorous essays (1899-1985)
White
United States educator who in 1865 (with Ezra Cornell) founded Cornell University and served as its first president (1832-1918)
White
A tributary of the Mississippi River that flows southeastward through northern Arkansas and southern Missouri
White
(board games) the lighter pieces
White
(usually in the plural) trousers
White
Turn white;
This detergent will whiten your laundry
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
White
Of or belonging to a racial group having light skin coloration;
Voting patterns within the white population
White
Free from moral blemish or impurity; unsullied;
In shining white armor
White
Marked by the presence of snow;
A white Christmas
The white hills of a northern winter
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
White
Glowing white with heat;
White flames
A white-hot center of the fire
White
Benevolent; without malicious intent;
White magic
A white lie
That's white of you
White
Of a surface; not written or printed on;
Blank pages
Fill in the blank spaces
A clean page
Wide white margins
White
(of coffee) having cream or milk added
White
Dressed (or especially habited) in white;
White nuns
White
(of hair) having lost its color;
The white hairs of old age
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
White
Of summer nights in northern latitudes where the sun barely sets;
White nights
White
Color opposite of black
He painted the wall white.
White
Denoting lightness or fairness
Her white skin was sensitive to the sun.
FAQs
Is tanning healthy?
Excessive tanning can be harmful and increase the risk of skin cancer.
Can you get tanned in a tanning bed?
Yes, tanning beds can produce a tanned appearance, though they carry health risks.
Is white a color?
In terms of light, white is a combination of all colors. In pigment, it is the absence of color.
Is tanned skin permanent?
No, tanned skin usually fades over time without continued sun exposure.
Is tanned skin more resistant to sunburn?
To some extent, but tanned skin is not a substitute for sunscreen.
Is 'white' used in other contexts?
Yes, 'white' can refer to emotions like fear or surprise, e.g., "white as a ghost."
What does 'whitewashing' mean?
Whitewashing can refer to covering up flaws or underrepresentation of non-white characters in media.
Can everyone's skin get tanned?
Some people tan more easily than others due to differences in skin type.
What is 'sunless tanning'?
Sunless tanning refers to products like sprays or lotions that can simulate a tanned appearance.
What does 'white' mean in racial terms?
"White" often refers to people primarily of European descent.
Can 'white' refer to things other than race and color?
Yes, 'white' can symbolize purity or cleanliness, among other meanings.
Are tanning products safe?
The safety of tanning products varies; always read labels and consult with healthcare providers.
What is 'white noise'?
White noise is a consistent sound that drowns out other noises, not related to color or race.
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.
Is white always associated with purity?
The association between white and purity is largely cultural and can vary.
About Author
Written by
Janet WhiteJanet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.
Edited by
Aimie CarlsonAimie Carlson, holding a master's degree in English literature, is a fervent English language enthusiast. She lends her writing talents to Difference Wiki, a prominent website that specializes in comparisons, offering readers insightful analyses that both captivate and inform.
