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violet · cool

#dfc9eb

a pale, vivid violet · cool · closest name: Thistle

Token name suggestion: Mist Amethyst

RGB
223, 201, 235
HSL
279°, 46%, 86%
CMYK
5, 15, 0, 8
Luminance
0.6346

#dfc9eb is a pale vivid violet, 279° on the wheel and 62/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.69:1). As text it scores 1.53:1 on white — use #9D59C2 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(279 46% 86%)rgb(223 201 235)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dfc9eb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dfc9eb
Hue
279°
violet
Saturation
46%
vivid
Lightness
86%
pale
Brightness
92%
HSV value
Perceived
83%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6346
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
62/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
13.69:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 3.9
Chroma
19.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.865
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 29.4
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue279° of 360°
Saturation46%
Lightness86%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dfc9eb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool62% cool

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

Luminance by channel
Red25%
Green66%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#dfc9eb
HEX (8-digit)#dfc9ebff
RGBrgb(223, 201, 235)
RGBArgba(223, 201, 235, 1)
HSLhsl(279, 46%, 86%)
HSV / HSBhsv(279, 14%, 92%)
HWBhwb(279 79% 8%)
CMYKcmyk(5%, 15%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(83.7 13.8 -14.0)
LCHlch(83.7 19.6 314.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.865 0.052 313.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(66.31, 63.46, 87.34)
Decimal14666219
Display P3color(display-p3 0.875 0.788 0.922)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dfc9eb;
background-color: #dfc9eb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dfc9eb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dfc9eb] bg-[#dfc9eb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dfc9eb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.875, green: 0.788, blue: 0.922)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.875, green: 0.788, blue: 0.922, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DFC9EB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDFC9EB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDFC9EB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(235, 201, 223)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(223, 201, 235)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(223, 201, 235)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 223, 201, 235)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8745f, 0.7882f, 0.9216f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{223,201,235}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dfc9eb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dfc9eb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#48225D, #E4D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dfc9eb 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: #F8F5FA;
  --brand-100: #F1EAF5;
  --brand-200: #dfc9eb;
  --brand-300: #CEADE1;
  --brand-400: #B684D1;
  --brand-500: #9E5BC2;
  --brand-600: #8B42B3;
  --brand-700: #743795;
  --brand-800: #5D2C77;
  --brand-900: #452357;
  --brand-950: #2B1636;
  --brand: #dfc9eb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #DCC3E9;
  --brand-hover: #D0AFE1;
  --brand-pressed: #C095D8;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1F1424;
    --brand-ink: #E4D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F5FA',
        100: '#F1EAF5',
        200: '#dfc9eb',
        300: '#CEADE1',
        400: '#B684D1',
        500: '#9E5BC2',
        600: '#8B42B3',
        700: '#743795',
        800: '#5D2C77',
        900: '#452357',
        950: '#2B1636',
        DEFAULT: '#dfc9eb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F5FA,
  '100': #F1EAF5,
  '200': #dfc9eb,
  '300': #CEADE1,
  '400': #B684D1,
  '500': #9E5BC2,
  '600': #8B42B3,
  '700': #743795,
  '800': #5D2C77,
  '900': #452357,
  '950': #2B1636,
);
$brand-base: #dfc9eb;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1EAF5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#dfc9eb", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CEADE1", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B684D1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9E5BC2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#8B42B3", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#743795", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5D2C77", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#452357", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2B1636", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dfc9eb · 13.69:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.53:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.69:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dfc9eb as text scores 1.53:1 on white and 13.69:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #48225D at 8.24:1.

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
#9D59C2 · 4.52:1
AA on white−30% L
#9D59C2
The quick fox
#7B3B9E · 7.09:1
AAA on white−43% L
#7B3B9E
The quick fox
#dfc9eb · 13.69:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dfc9eb
The quick fox
#dfc9eb · 13.69:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dfc9eb

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B37FCF 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
#dfc9eb on white: 1.53:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dfc9eb on black: 13.69:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dfc9eb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dfc9eb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.53:1AaAa
Slate 501.47:1AaAa
Slate 1001.40:1AaAa
Slate 2001.24:1AaAa
Slate 3001.03:1AaAa
Slate 4001.67:1AaAa
Slate 5003.10:1AaAa
Slate 6004.94:1AaAa
Slate 7006.75:1AaAa
Slate 8009.54:1AaAa
Slate 90011.64:1AaAa
Black13.69:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C5CFED
deuteranopia · #C9D1EA
tritanopia · #DECDD4

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. #dfc9eb is pinned to step 200; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F8F5FA
#F1EAF5
#dfc9eb
#CEADE1
#B684D1
#9E5BC2
#8B42B3
#743795
#5D2C77
#452357
#2B1636
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F8F5FADarkest = 950 · #2B1636Text 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 0.013 313.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.021 313.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.031 313.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.040 313.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.048 313.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.052 313.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.052 313.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.049 313.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.044 313.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.036 313.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.029 313.8);
}

Colors that work with #dfc9eb

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#F8F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#DCC3E9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7F4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#719834
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#48225D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4ECF8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1F1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#D0AFE1
One step down in lightness
Pressed#C095D8
Two steps down
Disabled#F5F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E9D5F3
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 #dfc9eb

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #48225D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B37FCF

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The high lightness makes it recede — a surface colour rather than a statement.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight15/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • 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#D5EBC9
Analogous left#CEC9EB
Analogous right#EBC9E6
Split-complement 1#E6EBC9
Split-complement 2#C9EBCE
Triadic 1#EBDFC9
Triadic 2#C9EBDF
Tetradic#EBCEC9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°279°

#dfc9eb sits at 279°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red87.5%
Green78.8%
Blue92.2%
R · 0–255
223
0xdf
G · 0–255
201
0xc9
B · 0–255
235
0xeb

CMYK percentages

Cyan5.1%
Magenta14.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.8%

Total ink coverage is 27%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dfc9eb text on a black background

contrast 13.69:1

Card sample

#dfc9eb text on a white background

contrast 1.53:1

Card sample

#dfc9eb on grey

1.40:1

#dfc9eb on its own surface

1.41:1

#dfc9eb on its dark surface

11.57:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dfc9eb;
Background color
Panel with #dfc9eb background
background-color: #dfc9eb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dfc9eb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(223, 201, 235, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(223, 201, 235, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dfc9eb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dfc9eb, #EBC9E0);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfc9eb, #EBC9D8);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dfc9eb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dfc9eb;
caret-color: #dfc9eb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dfc9eb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4ECF8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dfc9eb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dfc9eb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dfc9eb 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(223, 201, 235, 0.5)
rgb(223 201 235 / 50%)
#dfc9eb80
hsl(279 46% 86% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dfc9eb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dfc9eb1a#FCFAFD
20%#dfc9eb33#F9F4FB
40%#dfc9eb66#F2E9F7
60%#dfc9eb99#ECDFF3
80%#dfc9ebcc#E5D4EF

Gradients from #dfc9eb

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, #F6F0F9, #dfc9eb 45%, #48225D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dfc9eb, #E3B3D0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfc9eb, #D5EBC9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F8F4FB 0%, #dfc9eb 45%, #48225D 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #EFEEF9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F3DFEF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #48225D 0%, transparent 65%), #dfc9eb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dfc9eb

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.

#dfc9eb 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Very light tints can drop out on uncoated stock; check it at 100% size before signing off.

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 13.69:1.

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.

#dfc9eb, answered

What color is #dfc9eb?

#dfc9eb is a pale vivid violet, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 3.9). It sits at 279° on the hue wheel with 46% saturation and 86% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #dfc9eb?

rgb(223, 201, 235) — 223 red, 201 green and 235 blue out of 255, or 87.5% / 78.8% / 92.2% by channel.

What is #dfc9eb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(279, 46%, 86%) and hsv(279, 14%, 92%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dfc9eb a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6346 and perceived brightness is 83%, so black text on it reaches 13.69:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dfc9eb?

Black. It scores 13.69:1 against #dfc9eb, versus 1.53:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dfc9eb accessible on a white background?

#dfc9eb on white scores 1.53:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9D59C2 to reach 4.5:1, or #7B3B9E for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dfc9eb?

#D5EBC9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E6EBC9 and #C9EBCE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dfc9eb?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #DCC3E9 for borders, #7F4B9B for secondary text, #719834 as an accent and #48225D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CEC9EB and #EBC9E6 stays calm, while #D5EBC9 is the loudest partner.

What is #dfc9eb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(5%, 15%, 0%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dfc9eb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 62 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #EBC9EB; nudged cooler, #D2C8EC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dfc9eb?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 29.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dfc9eb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dfc9eb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dfc9eb] or text-[#dfc9eb], 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 #dfc9eb with 50% opacity?

rgba(223, 201, 235, 0.5), or #dfc9eb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EFE4F5; over black, #706576.

Is #dfc9eb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 8.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dfc9eb 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #dfc9eb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F6F0F9, #dfc9eb 45%, #48225D). For more colour, a short hue run to #E3B3D0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dfc9eb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dfc9eb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.