Synonyms of pall

pall 1 of 2

noun

1

as in coffin

a boxlike container for holding a dead body

bearing her husband's pall were her four brothers and two nephews

Synonyms & Similar Words

• coffin
• casket
• tomb
• bier
• urn
• sarcophagus
• box
• vault
• sepulchre
• sepulcher
• crypt
• charnel
• charnel house
• sepulture
• body bag

2

as in cloud

an overspreading element that produces an atmosphere of gloom

a persistent pall of distrust has overtaken this administration and will remain until the president resigns

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cloud
• shadow
• veil
• fog
• haze
• darkness
• shroud
• mantle
• mist
• night
• midnight
• murk
• penumbra
• umbra

3

as in veil

something that covers or conceals like a piece of cloth

a pall of gloom overshadowed the failing theater's last production

Synonyms & Similar Words

• veil
• shroud
• cloak
• wraps
• blanket
• curtain
• mantle
• robe
• mask
• hood
• covering
• cope
• cover
• penumbra
• coverture
• shield
• cover-up
• screen
• blind
• veneer
• façade
• facade
• varnish
• face
• camouflage
• fig leaf
• disguise
• gloss
• Trojan horse
• concealer
• Potemkin village

pall

2 of 2

verb

ˈpȯl 

as in to subside

to grow less in scope or intensity especially gradually

viewers' interest in the reality show eventually palled

Synonyms & Similar Words

• subside
• diminish
• decrease
• fall
• vanish
• ease
• decline
• shrink
• ebb
• taper
• die (away or down or out)
• recede
• wane
• fall away
• taper off
• remit
• moderate
• drain (away)
• phase down
• abate
• lessen
• dwindle
• relent
• drop (off)
• evaporate
• rachet (down)
• lower
• ratchet (down)
• weaken
• let up
• collapse
• contract
• slow (down)
• fade (away)
• tail (off)
• alleviate
• relax
• de-escalate
• slacken
• compress
• constrict
• melt (away)
• give out
• condense
• flag
• sink
• fritter (away)
• peter (out)
• cave (in)
• deflate

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rise
• increase
• mount
• intensify
• grow
• build
• wax
• swell
• accumulate
• mushroom
• snowball
• pick up
• soar
• balloon
• expand
• enlarge
• escalate
• appear
• emerge
• burgeon
• show up
• bourgeon
• lengthen
• elongate
• distend
• blow up

Synonym Chooser

How is the word pall different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of pall are cloy, glut, gorge, sate, satiate, and surfeit. While all these words mean "to fill to repletion," pall emphasizes the loss of ability to stimulate interest or appetite.

a life of leisure eventually begins to pall

When is it sensible to use cloy instead of pall?

While the synonyms cloy and pall are close in meaning, cloy stresses the disgust or boredom resulting from such surfeiting.

sentimental pictures that cloy after a while

When might glut be a better fit than pall?

Although the words glut and pall have much in common, glut implies excess in feeding or supplying.

a market glutted with diet books

When is gorge a more appropriate choice than pall?

While in some cases nearly identical to pall, gorge suggests glutting to the point of bursting or choking.

gorged themselves with chocolate

How are the words satiate and sate related as synonyms of pall?

Both satiate and sate may sometimes imply only complete satisfaction but more often suggest repletion that has destroyed interest or desire.

years of globe-trotting had satiated their interest in travel

readers were sated with sensationalistic stories

In what contexts can surfeit take the place of pall?

The meanings of surfeit and pall largely overlap; however, surfeit implies a nauseating repletion.

surfeited themselves with junk food

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of pall

Noun

News of a federal inquiry into Mizuhara's possible links to gamblers cast a pall on Dodgers' 2024 opening games, played in Seoul. —David K. Li, NBC News, 6 Feb. 2025

At a Kansas City Super Bowl parade last year, a shootout stemming from a personal grievance left a woman dead, wounded about two dozen others and cast a pall on what had been a celebratory day. —Jason Morris, CNN, 6 Feb. 2025

Verb

If there was no Venice, does that mean that the overall attraction of an Adriatic cruise would pall? —Julia Buckley, CNN, 8 May 2021

Reduced to highlights and stripped of distinction, Percy’s adventures with Furies, oracles, Medusa, Ares and Hades quickly pall. —Jesse Green, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2019