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violet · neutral

#83708b

a balanced, muted violet · neutral · closest name: Gray

Token name suggestion: Atlas Iris

RGB
131, 112, 139
HSL
282°, 11%, 49%
CMYK
6, 19, 0, 46
Luminance
0.1828

#83708b is a balanced muted violet, 282° on the wheel and 53/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (4.66:1). As text it scores 4.51:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Gray, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(282 11% 49%)rgb(131 112 139)Base step 600AA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #83708b is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#83708b
Hue
282°
violet
Saturation
11%
muted
Lightness
49%
balanced
Brightness
55%
HSV value
Perceived
48%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1828
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
53/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
4.66:1
Closest name
Gray
ΔE2000 15.3
Chroma
17.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.572
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 11.3
Web-safe
#996699
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue282° of 360°
Saturation11%
Lightness49%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #83708b.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool53% cool

Reads neutral. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red26%
Green63%
Blue10%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#83708b
HEX (8-digit)#83708bff
RGBrgb(131, 112, 139)
RGBArgba(131, 112, 139, 1)
HSLhsl(282, 11%, 49%)
HSV / HSBhsv(282, 19%, 55%)
HWBhwb(282 44% 45%)
CMYKcmyk(6%, 19%, 0%, 46%)
LABlab(49.8 12.7 -12.0)
LCHlch(49.8 17.5 316.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.572 0.046 315.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(19.81, 18.28, 26.91)
Decimal8614027
Display P3color(display-p3 0.514 0.439 0.545)
Web-safe#996699

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #83708b;
background-color: #83708b;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #83708b;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#83708b] bg-[#83708b]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #83708b;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.514, green: 0.439, blue: 0.545)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.514, green: 0.439, blue: 0.545, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#83708B</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF83708B)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF83708B)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(139, 112, 131)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(131, 112, 139)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(131, 112, 139)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 131, 112, 139)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5137f, 0.4392f, 0.5451f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{131,112,139}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #83708b 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #83708b 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#433947, #E2DDE4);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #83708b h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F8F7F8;
  --brand-100: #F0EEF1;
  --brand-200: #DFDBE1;
  --brand-300: #C9C1CD;
  --brand-400: #AFA2B4;
  --brand-500: #94839B;
  --brand-600: #83708b;
  --brand-700: #6A5B71;
  --brand-800: #55495A;
  --brand-900: #403743;
  --brand-950: #28222A;
  --brand: #83708b;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F7F8;
  --brand-border: #D8D2DB;
  --brand-hover: #706077;
  --brand-pressed: #5E5063;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1D191F;
    --brand-ink: #E2DDE4;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F7F8',
        100: '#F0EEF1',
        200: '#DFDBE1',
        300: '#C9C1CD',
        400: '#AFA2B4',
        500: '#94839B',
        600: '#83708b',
        700: '#6A5B71',
        800: '#55495A',
        900: '#403743',
        950: '#28222A',
        DEFAULT: '#83708b',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F7F8,
  '100': #F0EEF1,
  '200': #DFDBE1,
  '300': #C9C1CD,
  '400': #AFA2B4,
  '500': #94839B,
  '600': #83708b,
  '700': #6A5B71,
  '800': #55495A,
  '900': #403743,
  '950': #28222A,
);
$brand-base: #83708b;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F0EEF1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DFDBE1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C9C1CD", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#AFA2B4", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#94839B", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#83708b", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6A5B71", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#55495A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#403743", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#28222A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#000000 on #83708b · 4.66:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.51:1
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.66:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #83708b as text scores 4.51:1 on white and 4.66:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #433947 at 2.43:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#83708b · 4.51:1
AA on whitealready passes
#83708b
The quick fox
#605266 · 7.25:1
AAA on white−13% L
#605266
The quick fox
#83708b · 4.66:1
AA on blackalready passes
#83708b
The quick fox
#A091A7 · 7.10:1
AAA on black+12% L
#A091A7

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #83708B is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#83708b on white: 4.51:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#83708b on black: 4.66:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #83708b as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #83708b.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.51:1AaAa
Slate 504.31:1AaAa
Slate 1004.12:1AaAa
Slate 2003.66:1AaAa
Slate 3003.04:1AaAa
Slate 4001.76:1AaAa
Slate 5001.05:1AaAa
Slate 6001.68:1AaAa
Slate 7002.30:1AaAa
Slate 8003.24:1AaAa
Slate 9003.96:1AaAa
Black4.66:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #6D758C
deuteranopia · #71778A
tritanopia · #837379

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #83708b is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F8F7F8
#F0EEF1
#DFDBE1
#C9C1CD
#AFA2B4
#94839B
#83708b
#6A5B71
#55495A
#403743
#28222A
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F8F7F8Darkest = 950 · #28222AText step on white = 600
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.012 315.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.019 315.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.028 315.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.036 315.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.043 315.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.046 315.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.046 315.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.044 315.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.039 315.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.033 315.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.026 315.9);
}

Colors that work with #83708b

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#F8F7F8
Tinted page background
Border#D8D2DB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#78667F
Captions on the surface
Accent#7F906B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#433947
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3F1F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D191F
Dark-mode background
Hover#706077
One step down in lightness
Pressed#5E5063
Two steps down
Disabled#B9AEBD
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#926FA0
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #83708b

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

creativepremiummodernimaginative

Violet sits between the warmth of red and the calm of blue, so it reads as inventive without reading as risky. Current shorthand for software craft.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

Deep violets swallow detail on screens with poor gamma; check it on a cheap laptop panel.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight51/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#788B70
Analogous left#75708B
Analogous right#8B7085
Split-complement 1#858B70
Split-complement 2#708B75
Triadic 1#8B8370
Triadic 2#708B83
Tetradic#8B7570
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°282°

#83708b sits at 282°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red51.4%
Green43.9%
Blue54.5%
R · 0–255
131
0x83
G · 0–255
112
0x70
B · 0–255
139
0x8b

CMYK percentages

Cyan5.8%
Magenta19.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)45.5%

Total ink coverage is 71%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#83708b text on a black background

contrast 4.66:1

Card sample

#83708b text on a white background

contrast 4.51:1

Card sample

#83708b on grey

4.12:1

#83708b on its own surface

4.22:1

#83708b on its dark surface

3.84:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #83708b;
Background color
Panel with #83708b background
background-color: #83708b;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #83708b;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(131, 112, 139, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(131, 112, 139, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #83708b;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #83708b, #8B7081);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #83708b, #8B707A);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #83708b;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #83708b;
caret-color: #83708b;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #83708b;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3F1F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #83708b;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#83708b 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #83708b over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(131, 112, 139, 0.5)
rgb(131 112 139 / 50%)
#83708b80
hsl(282 11% 49% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #83708b 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#83708b1a#F3F1F3
20%#83708b33#E6E2E8
40%#83708b66#CDC6D1
60%#83708b99#B5A9B9
80%#83708bcc#9C8DA2

Gradients from #83708b

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #A091A7, #83708b 45%, #433947);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #83708b, #7A626F);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #83708b, #788B70);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #AFA2B4 0%, #83708b 45%, #433947 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F7F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #8E8CA2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #998092 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #433947 0%, transparent 65%), #83708b;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #83708b

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#83708b in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
Creative toolsFintechBeautyLuxury
Common UI roles
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 4.66:1.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#83708b, answered

What color is #83708b?

#83708b is a balanced muted violet, closest to Gray (ΔE2000 15.3). It sits at 282° on the hue wheel with 11% saturation and 49% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #83708b?

rgb(131, 112, 139) — 131 red, 112 green and 139 blue out of 255, or 51.4% / 43.9% / 54.5% by channel.

What is #83708b in HSL and HSV?

hsl(282, 11%, 49%) and hsv(282, 19%, 55%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #83708b a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.1828 and perceived brightness is 48%, so black text on it reaches 4.66:1.

Should I use black or white text on #83708b?

Black. It scores 4.66:1 against #83708b, versus 4.51:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #83708b accessible on a white background?

#83708b on white scores 4.51:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #83708b?

#788B70 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #858B70 and #708B75, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #83708b?

For interface work: #F8F7F8 as the surface, #D8D2DB for borders, #78667F for secondary text, #7F906B as an accent and #433947 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #75708B and #8B7085 stays calm, while #788B70 is the loudest partner.

What is #83708b in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(6%, 19%, 0%, 46%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #83708b warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 53 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #8B7089; nudged cooler, #786D8E.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #83708b?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 11.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #83708b as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #83708b in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#83708b] or text-[#83708b], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #83708b with 50% opacity?

rgba(131, 112, 139, 0.5), or #83708b80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C1B8C5; over black, #423846.

Is #83708b a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996699, ΔE2000 9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #83708b mean?

As a violet, it reads creative, premium, modern. Violet sits between the warmth of red and the calm of blue, so it reads as inventive without reading as risky. Current shorthand for software craft. At this low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #83708b?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A091A7, #83708b 45%, #433947). For more colour, a short hue run to #7A626F keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #83708b in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #83708b at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.