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gray · neutral

#89918f

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Pewter

RGB
137, 145, 143
HSL
165°, 4%, 55%
CMYK
6, 0, 1, 43
Luminance
0.2755

#89918f is a balanced muted gray, 165° on the wheel and 53/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.51:1). As text it scores 3.23:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Gray, nearest Tailwind family is neutral.

hsl(165 4% 55%)rgb(137 145 143)Base step 500AA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #89918f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#89918f
Hue
165°
gray
Saturation
4%
muted
Lightness
55%
balanced
Brightness
57%
HSV value
Perceived
56%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2755
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
53/100 cool
Color family
Gray
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
6.51:1
Closest name
Gray
ΔE2000 7
Chroma
3.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.649
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
neutral
500 · ΔE 11.5
Web-safe
#999999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue165° of 360°
Saturation4%
Lightness55%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #89918f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool53% cool

Near-neutral, so temperature is a whisper rather than a statement — the tinted siblings below show which way it can lean.

Luminance by channel
Red19%
Green73%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#89918f
HEX (8-digit)#89918fff
RGBrgb(137, 145, 143)
RGBArgba(137, 145, 143, 1)
HSLhsl(165, 4%, 55%)
HSV / HSBhsv(165, 6%, 57%)
HWBhwb(165 54% 43%)
CMYKcmyk(6%, 0%, 1%, 43%)
LABlab(59.5 -3.3 0.1)
LCHlch(59.5 3.3 179.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.649 0.010 179.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(25.40, 27.55, 29.96)
Decimal9015695
Display P3color(display-p3 0.537 0.569 0.561)
Web-safe#999999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #89918f;
background-color: #89918f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #89918f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#89918f] bg-[#89918f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #89918f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.537, green: 0.569, blue: 0.561)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.537, green: 0.569, blue: 0.561, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#89918F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF89918F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF89918F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(143, 145, 137)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(137, 145, 143)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(137, 145, 143)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 137, 145, 143)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5373f, 0.5686f, 0.5608f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{137,145,143}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #89918f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #89918f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#3E4241, #DFE1E1);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #89918f 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: #F7F8F7;
  --brand-100: #EFF0F0;
  --brand-200: #DDDFDE;
  --brand-300: #C5C9C8;
  --brand-400: #A8AEAC;
  --brand-500: #89918f;
  --brand-600: #767F7D;
  --brand-700: #626A68;
  --brand-800: #4F5453;
  --brand-900: #3B3F3E;
  --brand-950: #252727;
  --brand: #89918f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F7F8F7;
  --brand-border: #D5D8D7;
  --brand-hover: #777F7D;
  --brand-pressed: #666D6B;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1B1D1D;
    --brand-ink: #DFE1E1;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F8F7',
        100: '#EFF0F0',
        200: '#DDDFDE',
        300: '#C5C9C8',
        400: '#A8AEAC',
        500: '#89918f',
        600: '#767F7D',
        700: '#626A68',
        800: '#4F5453',
        900: '#3B3F3E',
        950: '#252727',
        DEFAULT: '#89918f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F8F7,
  '100': #EFF0F0,
  '200': #DDDFDE,
  '300': #C5C9C8,
  '400': #A8AEAC,
  '500': #89918f,
  '600': #767F7D,
  '700': #626A68,
  '800': #4F5453,
  '900': #3B3F3E,
  '950': #252727,
);
$brand-base: #89918f;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F8F7", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EFF0F0", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DDDFDE", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C5C9C8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#A8AEAC", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#89918f", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#767F7D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#626A68", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#4F5453", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3B3F3E", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#252727", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #89918f · 6.51:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.23:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.51:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #89918f as text scores 3.23:1 on white and 6.51:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #3E4241 at 3.16:1.

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
#6F7876 · 4.54:1
AA on white−10% L
#6F7876
The quick fox
#525856 · 7.27:1
AAA on white−22% L
#525856
The quick fox
#89918f · 6.51:1
AA on blackalready passes
#89918f
The quick fox
#919897 · 7.14:1
AAA on black+3% L
#919897

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #89918F 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
#89918f on white: 3.23:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#89918f on black: 6.51:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #89918f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #89918f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.23:1AaAa
Slate 503.08:1AaAa
Slate 1002.94:1AaAa
Slate 2002.62:1AaAa
Slate 3002.17:1AaAa
Slate 4001.26:1AaAa
Slate 5001.48:1AaAa
Slate 6002.35:1AaAa
Slate 7003.21:1AaAa
Slate 8004.54:1AaAa
Slate 9005.53:1AaAa
Black6.51:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #90908F
deuteranopia · #8F8F8F
tritanopia · #879190

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. #89918f is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F7F8F7
#EFF0F0
#DDDFDE
#C5C9C8
#A8AEAC
#89918f
#767F7D
#626A68
#4F5453
#3B3F3E
#252727
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F7F8F7Darkest = 950 · #252727Text step on white = 700
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 0.002 179.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.004 179.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.006 179.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.008 179.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.009 179.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.010 179.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.010 179.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.009 179.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.008 179.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.007 179.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.005 179.4);
}

Colors that work with #89918f

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#F7F8F7
Tinted page background
Border#D5D8D7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#6F7775
Captions on the surface
Accent#96848D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#3E4241
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F2F3F2
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1B1D1D
Dark-mode background
Hover#777F7D
One step down in lightness
Pressed#666D6B
Two steps down
Disabled#C3C7C6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#89A59E
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 #89918f

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Neutral UI chrome and typography
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #3E4241
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.

neutralquieteditorialengineered

Grey is the material the rest of the interface is built from: type, rules, surfaces, disabled states.

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

Mid-greys are where accessibility quietly fails — check every step of your ladder, not just the ends.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight45/100
  • 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#91898B
Analogous left#89918B
Analogous right#898F91
Split-complement 1#91898F
Split-complement 2#918B89
Triadic 1#8F8991
Triadic 2#918F89
Tetradic#8B8991
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°165°

#89918f sits at 165°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red53.7%
Green56.9%
Blue56.1%
R · 0–255
137
0x89
G · 0–255
145
0x91
B · 0–255
143
0x8f

CMYK percentages

Cyan5.5%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow1.4%
Key (black)43.1%

Total ink coverage is 50%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#89918f text on a black background

contrast 6.51:1

Card sample

#89918f text on a white background

contrast 3.23:1

Card sample

#89918f on grey

2.94:1

#89918f on its own surface

3.03:1

#89918f on its dark surface

5.25:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #89918f;
Background color
Panel with #89918f background
background-color: #89918f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #89918f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(137, 145, 143, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(137, 145, 143, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #89918f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #89918f, #898E91);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #89918f, #898C91);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #89918f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #89918f;
caret-color: #89918f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #89918f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F2F3F2;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #89918f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#89918f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #89918f 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(137, 145, 143, 0.5)
rgb(137 145 143 / 50%)
#89918f80
hsl(165 4% 55% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #89918f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#89918f1a#F3F4F4
20%#89918f33#E7E9E9
40%#89918f66#D0D3D2
60%#89918f99#B8BDBC
80%#89918fcc#A1A7A5

Gradients from #89918f

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, #A9AFAD, #89918f 45%, #3E4241);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #89918f, #797E82);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #89918f, #91898B);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B9BDBC 0%, #89918f 45%, #3E4241 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F7F8F7, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #A3AAA4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #999DA0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #3E4241 0%, transparent 65%), #89918f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #89918f

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.

#89918f in the real world

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

Industries
EditorialArchitectureEnterpriseLuxury goods
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 6.51:1.

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.

#89918f, answered

What color is #89918f?

#89918f is a balanced muted gray, closest to Gray (ΔE2000 7). It sits at 165° on the hue wheel with 4% saturation and 55% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #89918f?

rgb(137, 145, 143) — 137 red, 145 green and 143 blue out of 255, or 53.7% / 56.9% / 56.1% by channel.

What is #89918f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(165, 4%, 55%) and hsv(165, 6%, 57%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #89918f a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2755 and perceived brightness is 56%, so black text on it reaches 6.51:1.

Should I use black or white text on #89918f?

Black. It scores 6.51:1 against #89918f, versus 3.23:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #89918f accessible on a white background?

#89918f on white scores 3.23:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #6F7876 to reach 4.5:1, or #525856 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #89918f?

#91898B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #91898F and #918B89, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #89918f?

For interface work: #F7F8F7 as the surface, #D5D8D7 for borders, #6F7775 for secondary text, #96848D as an accent and #3E4241 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #89918B and #898F91 stays calm, while #91898B is the loudest partner.

What is #89918f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(6%, 0%, 1%, 43%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #89918f 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 #A19083; nudged cooler, #778799.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #89918f?

The neutral family — its 500 step is #737373, ΔE2000 11.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #89918f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #89918f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#89918f] or text-[#89918f], 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 #89918f with 50% opacity?

rgba(137, 145, 143, 0.5), or #89918f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C4C8C7; over black, #454948.

Is #89918f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999999, ΔE2000 5.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #89918f mean?

As a gray, it reads neutral, quiet, editorial. Grey is the material the rest of the interface is built from: type, rules, surfaces, disabled states. At this low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #89918f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A9AFAD, #89918f 45%, #3E4241). For more colour, a short hue run to #797E82 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #89918f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #89918f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.