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gray · neutral

#adb6af

a light, muted gray · neutral · closest name: Dark Gray

Token name suggestion: Meadow Graphite

RGB
173, 182, 175
HSL
133°, 6%, 70%
CMYK
5, 0, 4, 29
Luminance
0.4544

#adb6af is a light muted gray, 133° on the wheel and 53/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.09:1). As text it scores 2.08:1 on white — use #6B786E instead. Nearest name is Dark Gray, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(133 6% 70%)rgb(173 182 175)Base step 400AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #adb6af is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#adb6af
Hue
133°
gray
Saturation
6%
muted
Lightness
70%
light
Brightness
71%
HSV value
Perceived
70%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4544
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
53/100 cool
Color family
Gray
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
10.09:1
Closest name
Dark Gray
ΔE2000 6.8
Chroma
5.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.767
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 20.8
Web-safe
#99CC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue133° of 360°
Saturation6%
Lightness70%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #adb6af.

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
Red20%
Green74%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#adb6af
HEX (8-digit)#adb6afff
RGBrgb(173, 182, 175)
RGBArgba(173, 182, 175, 1)
HSLhsl(133, 6%, 70%)
HSV / HSBhsv(133, 5%, 71%)
HWBhwb(133 68% 29%)
CMYKcmyk(5%, 0%, 4%, 29%)
LABlab(73.2 -4.5 2.5)
LCHlch(73.2 5.1 151.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.767 0.014 152.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(41.70, 45.44, 47.12)
Decimal11384495
Display P3color(display-p3 0.678 0.714 0.686)
Web-safe#99CC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #adb6af;
background-color: #adb6af;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #adb6af;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#adb6af] bg-[#adb6af]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #adb6af;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.678, green: 0.714, blue: 0.686)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.678, green: 0.714, blue: 0.686, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ADB6AF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFADB6AF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFADB6AF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(175, 182, 173)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(173, 182, 175)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(173, 182, 175)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 173, 182, 175)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6784f, 0.7137f, 0.6863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{173,182,175}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #adb6af 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #adb6af 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#3C433E, #DFE2DF);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #adb6af 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: #EFF0EF;
  --brand-200: #DCE0DD;
  --brand-300: #C4CAC5;
  --brand-400: #adb6af;
  --brand-500: #88958B;
  --brand-600: #738176;
  --brand-700: #606C63;
  --brand-800: #4D564F;
  --brand-900: #3A403B;
  --brand-950: #242825;
  --brand: #adb6af;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F7F8F7;
  --brand-border: #D4D9D5;
  --brand-hover: #9AA59D;
  --brand-pressed: #87948A;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1A1E1B;
    --brand-ink: #DFE2DF;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F8F7',
        100: '#EFF0EF',
        200: '#DCE0DD',
        300: '#C4CAC5',
        400: '#adb6af',
        500: '#88958B',
        600: '#738176',
        700: '#606C63',
        800: '#4D564F',
        900: '#3A403B',
        950: '#242825',
        DEFAULT: '#adb6af',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F8F7,
  '100': #EFF0EF,
  '200': #DCE0DD,
  '300': #C4CAC5,
  '400': #adb6af,
  '500': #88958B,
  '600': #738176,
  '700': #606C63,
  '800': #4D564F,
  '900': #3A403B,
  '950': #242825,
);
$brand-base: #adb6af;
$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": "#EFF0EF", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DCE0DD", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C4CAC5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#adb6af", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#88958B", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#738176", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#606C63", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#4D564F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3A403B", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#242825", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #adb6af · 10.09:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.08:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.09:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #adb6af as text scores 2.08:1 on white and 10.09:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #3C433E at 4.89:1.

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
#6B786E · 4.63:1
AA on white−25% L
#6B786E
The quick fox
#515B53 · 7.07:1
AAA on white−36% L
#515B53
The quick fox
#adb6af · 10.09:1
AA on blackalready passes
#adb6af
The quick fox
#adb6af · 10.09:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#adb6af

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8A978D 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
#adb6af on white: 2.08:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#adb6af on black: 10.09:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #adb6af as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #adb6af.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.08:1AaAa
Slate 501.99:1AaAa
Slate 1001.90:1AaAa
Slate 2001.69:1AaAa
Slate 3001.40:1AaAa
Slate 4001.23:1AaAa
Slate 5002.29:1AaAa
Slate 6003.64:1AaAa
Slate 7004.97:1AaAa
Slate 8007.03:1AaAa
Slate 9008.58:1AaAa
Black10.09:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B6B4AF
deuteranopia · #B4B3AF
tritanopia · #ACB6B4

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. #adb6af is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F7F8F7
#EFF0EF
#DCE0DD
#C4CAC5
#adb6af
#88958B
#738176
#606C63
#4D564F
#3A403B
#242825
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F7F8F7Darkest = 950 · #242825Text 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 0.004 152.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.006 152.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.008 152.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.011 152.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.013 152.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.014 152.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.014 152.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.013 152.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.012 152.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.010 152.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.008 152.5);
}

Colors that work with #adb6af

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#D4D9D5
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#6C796F
Captions on the surface
Accent#705C70
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#3C433E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F2F3F2
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1A1E1B
Dark-mode background
Hover#9AA59D
One step down in lightness
Pressed#87948A
Two steps down
Disabled#E8EBE9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B1C6B6
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 #adb6af

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Neutral UI chrome and typography
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #3C433E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8A978D

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 lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight30/100
  • 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#B6ADB4
Analogous left#AFB6AD
Analogous right#ADB6B3
Split-complement 1#B3ADB6
Split-complement 2#B6ADAF
Triadic 1#AFADB6
Triadic 2#B6AFAD
Tetradic#ADAFB6
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°133°

#adb6af sits at 133°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.8%
Green71.4%
Blue68.6%
R · 0–255
173
0xad
G · 0–255
182
0xb6
B · 0–255
175
0xaf

CMYK percentages

Cyan4.9%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow3.8%
Key (black)28.6%

Total ink coverage is 37%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#adb6af text on a black background

contrast 10.09:1

Card sample

#adb6af text on a white background

contrast 2.08:1

Card sample

#adb6af on grey

1.90:1

#adb6af on its own surface

1.96:1

#adb6af on its dark surface

8.10:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #adb6af;
Background color
Panel with #adb6af background
background-color: #adb6af;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #adb6af;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(173, 182, 175, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(173, 182, 175, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #adb6af;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #adb6af, #ADB6B5);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #adb6af, #ADB5B6);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #adb6af;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #adb6af;
caret-color: #adb6af;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #adb6af;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F2F3F2;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #adb6af;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#adb6af 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #adb6af 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(173, 182, 175, 0.5)
rgb(173 182 175 / 50%)
#adb6af80
hsl(133 6% 70% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #adb6af 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#adb6af1a#F7F8F7
20%#adb6af33#EFF0EF
40%#adb6af66#DEE2DF
60%#adb6af99#CED3CF
80%#adb6afcc#BDC5BF

Gradients from #adb6af

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, #CDD3CF, #adb6af 45%, #3C433E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #adb6af, #9DA8A7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #adb6af, #B6ADB4);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DEE1DE 0%, #adb6af 45%, #3C433E 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%, #CACEC8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BDC4C3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #3C433E 0%, transparent 65%), #adb6af;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #adb6af

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.

#adb6af 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 10.09:1.

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.

#adb6af, answered

What color is #adb6af?

#adb6af is a light muted gray, closest to Dark Gray (ΔE2000 6.8). It sits at 133° on the hue wheel with 6% saturation and 70% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #adb6af?

rgb(173, 182, 175) — 173 red, 182 green and 175 blue out of 255, or 67.8% / 71.4% / 68.6% by channel.

What is #adb6af in HSL and HSV?

hsl(133, 6%, 70%) and hsv(133, 5%, 71%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #adb6af a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4544 and perceived brightness is 70%, so black text on it reaches 10.09:1.

Should I use black or white text on #adb6af?

Black. It scores 10.09:1 against #adb6af, versus 2.08:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #adb6af accessible on a white background?

#adb6af on white scores 2.08:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #6B786E to reach 4.5:1, or #515B53 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #adb6af?

#B6ADB4 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B3ADB6 and #B6ADAF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #adb6af?

For interface work: #F7F8F7 as the surface, #D4D9D5 for borders, #6C796F for secondary text, #705C70 as an accent and #3C433E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AFB6AD and #ADB6B3 stays calm, while #B6ADB4 is the loudest partner.

What is #adb6af in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(5%, 0%, 4%, 29%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #adb6af 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 #C1B5AC; nudged cooler, #A1ACB8.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #adb6af?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 20.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #adb6af as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #adb6af in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#adb6af] or text-[#adb6af], 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 #adb6af with 50% opacity?

rgba(173, 182, 175, 0.5), or #adb6af80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6DBD7; over black, #575B58.

Is #adb6af a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CC99, ΔE2000 16.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #adb6af 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 #adb6af?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CDD3CF, #adb6af 45%, #3C433E). For more colour, a short hue run to #9DA8A7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #adb6af in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #adb6af at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.