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whitish + noun
whitish 作定语修饰名词，意为“略带白色的”。
The bird has a whitish breast.
这只鸟的胸部发白。
发白的；带白色的
先理解核心含义，再看它在真实句子里的用法。
发白的；带白色的
having a color tending toward white; somewhat white
The bird has a whitish breast.
这只鸟的胸部发白。
微白的；苍白的；近乎白色的。
Somewhat white, pale or almost white.
A whitish mist covered the valley in the early morning.
清晨一层发白的薄雾笼罩着山谷。
After a few washes, the blue shirt became whitish.
洗了几次后，这件蓝衬衫变得发白了。
The plant has small whitish flowers that bloom in spring.
这种植物春天会开一些带白色的小花。
whitish 作定语修饰名词，意为“略带白色的”。
The bird has a whitish breast.
这只鸟的胸部发白。
whitish 常接在系动词后作表语，描述主语带有白色的特征。
The walls look whitish in the moonlight.
墙壁在月光下看起来发白。
whitish 可修饰颜色词，表示该颜色偏白。
She wore a whitish grey scarf.
她围着一条灰白色的围巾。
Not this
The wall is whitish color.
Use this
The wall is whitish.
汉语里可以说“墙是发白的颜色”，受此影响容易把 color 加在形容词后。英语表示颜色的形容词（whitish）本身就说明颜色，作表语时应直接说 be whitish；whitish color 是“形容词+名词”却缺少中心语，听上去冗余且不合语法。
Not this
I would like a glass of whitish wine.
Use this
I would like a glass of white wine.
white wine 是固定搭配，指“白葡萄酒”。酒的颜色实际偏黄绿，但类型名称仍用 white，不用 whitish。whitish 只能表示“略带白色”，不能替代 wine 类型名称中的 white。
Not this
The liquid looks like whitish.
Use this
The liquid looks whitish.
look 作系动词表示“看起来”时，后面直接跟形容词：look whitish。look like 后面必须跟名词：look like milk。把两者混用成 look like whitish，是受汉语“看起来有点白”的直译影响。去掉 like，用 look + 形容词即可。
Focus on the distinctions below. Other candidates are kept compact until a reliable usage note is available.
发白的粉末
The old walls were covered with a whitish powder.
旧墙上覆盖着一层发白的粉末。
发白的薄雾
A whitish mist hung over the lake in the early morning.
清晨，一层发白的薄雾笼罩在湖面上。
发白的光线
A whitish light came through the frosted window.
一束发白的光线透过毛玻璃窗照进来。
发白的脸色
She had a whitish complexion after the long illness.
久病之后，她的脸色发白。
发白的烟
Whitish smoke rose from the chimney.
烟囱里升起发白的烟。
Use whitish naturally, then get feedback on meaning, tone, grammar, and phrasing.
Revisit a common error or keep this word in your review list.
记法：white（白）+ -ish（略带…），whitish = 发白的、带白色的。
语域：neutral 常见场景：color descriptions、everyday speech、scientific or technical writing whitish 是中性常用词，多用于口语和一般书面语，表示略带白色；在科技或技术写作中也比较常见。通常可直接使用，不需特意替换为更正式的词。
All six words end in -ish, and the suffix is pronounced /ɪʃ/ in each, so they share that unstressed suffix with whitish /ˈhwaɪtɪʃ/. However, none has the same stressed vowel plus following /tɪʃ/, so none rhymes exactly. British looks similar but has a different stressed vowel /ɪ/, making it a spelling lookalike rather than a sound match.
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.