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violet · neutral

#dfd9e2

a pale, muted violet · neutral · closest name: Lavender

Token name suggestion: Chalk Amethyst

RGB
223, 217, 226
HSL
280°, 13%, 87%
CMYK
1, 4, 0, 11
Luminance
0.7080

#dfd9e2 is a pale muted violet, 280° on the wheel and 54/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (15.16:1). As text it scores 1.39:1 on white — use #856E90 instead. Nearest name is Lavender, nearest Tailwind family is neutral.

hsl(280 13% 87%)rgb(223 217 226)Base step 200AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dfd9e2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dfd9e2
Hue
280°
violet
Saturation
13%
muted
Lightness
87%
pale
Brightness
89%
HSV value
Perceived
86%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7080
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
54/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
15.16:1
Closest name
Lavender
ΔE2000 5.6
Chroma
5.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.893
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
neutral
500 · ΔE 31.4
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue280° of 360°
Saturation13%
Lightness87%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dfd9e2.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool54% 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
Red22%
Green70%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#dfd9e2
HEX (8-digit)#dfd9e2ff
RGBrgb(223, 217, 226)
RGBArgba(223, 217, 226, 1)
HSLhsl(280, 13%, 87%)
HSV / HSBhsv(280, 4%, 89%)
HWBhwb(280 85% 11%)
CMYKcmyk(1%, 4%, 0%, 11%)
LABlab(87.4 3.7 -3.7)
LCHlch(87.4 5.2 314.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.893 0.014 314.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(68.97, 70.80, 81.97)
Decimal14670306
Display P3color(display-p3 0.875 0.851 0.886)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dfd9e2;
background-color: #dfd9e2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dfd9e2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dfd9e2] bg-[#dfd9e2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dfd9e2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.875, green: 0.851, blue: 0.886)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.875, green: 0.851, blue: 0.886, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DFD9E2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDFD9E2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDFD9E2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(226, 217, 223)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(223, 217, 226)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(223, 217, 226)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 223, 217, 226)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8745f, 0.8510f, 0.8863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{223,217,226}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dfd9e2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dfd9e2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#433748, #E2DCE5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dfd9e2 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: #dfd9e2;
  --brand-300: #C9BFCE;
  --brand-400: #AFA0B6;
  --brand-500: #94809E;
  --brand-600: #806A8B;
  --brand-700: #6B5874;
  --brand-800: #55475D;
  --brand-900: #403645;
  --brand-950: #28222B;
  --brand: #dfd9e2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F6F8;
  --brand-border: #D8D1DC;
  --brand-hover: #CEC5D3;
  --brand-pressed: #BDB1C3;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1D1820;
    --brand-ink: #E2DCE5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F7F8',
        100: '#F0EEF1',
        200: '#dfd9e2',
        300: '#C9BFCE',
        400: '#AFA0B6',
        500: '#94809E',
        600: '#806A8B',
        700: '#6B5874',
        800: '#55475D',
        900: '#403645',
        950: '#28222B',
        DEFAULT: '#dfd9e2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F7F8,
  '100': #F0EEF1,
  '200': #dfd9e2,
  '300': #C9BFCE,
  '400': #AFA0B6,
  '500': #94809E,
  '600': #806A8B,
  '700': #6B5874,
  '800': #55475D,
  '900': #403645,
  '950': #28222B,
);
$brand-base: #dfd9e2;
$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": "#dfd9e2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C9BFCE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#AFA0B6", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#94809E", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#806A8B", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6B5874", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#55475D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#403645", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#28222B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dfd9e2 · 15.16:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.39:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.16:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dfd9e2 as text scores 1.39:1 on white and 15.16:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #433748 at 8.07:1.

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
#856E90 · 4.54:1
AA on white−37% L
#856E90
The quick fox
#62516B · 7.22:1
AAA on white−50% L
#62516B
The quick fox
#dfd9e2 · 15.16:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dfd9e2
The quick fox
#dfd9e2 · 15.16:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dfd9e2

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A08EA9 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
#dfd9e2 on white: 1.39:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dfd9e2 on black: 15.16:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dfd9e2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dfd9e2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.39:1AaAa
Slate 501.32:1AaAa
Slate 1001.26:1AaAa
Slate 2001.12:1AaAa
Slate 3001.07:1AaAa
Slate 4001.85:1AaAa
Slate 5003.44:1AaAa
Slate 6005.47:1AaAa
Slate 7007.48:1AaAa
Slate 80010.56:1AaAa
Slate 90012.89:1AaAa
Black15.16:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D8DBE2
deuteranopia · #D9DBE2
tritanopia · #DFDADC

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. #dfd9e2 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.

#F8F7F8
#F0EEF1
#dfd9e2
#C9BFCE
#AFA0B6
#94809E
#806A8B
#6B5874
#55475D
#403645
#28222B
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F8F7F8Darkest = 950 · #28222BText 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 0.003 314.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.005 314.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.008 314.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.011 314.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.013 314.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.014 314.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.014 314.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.013 314.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.012 314.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.010 314.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.008 314.8);
}

Colors that work with #dfd9e2

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#F8F6F8
Tinted page background
Border#D8D1DC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#786382
Captions on the surface
Accent#6B7755
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#433748
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3F1F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1820
Dark-mode background
Hover#CEC5D3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#BDB1C3
Two steps down
Disabled#F5F3F6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#EAE2ED
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 #dfd9e2

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
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 #433748
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A08EA9

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 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
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight13/100
  • 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#DCE2D9
Analogous left#DBD9E2
Analogous right#E2D9E1
Split-complement 1#E1E2D9
Split-complement 2#D9E2DB
Triadic 1#E2DFD9
Triadic 2#D9E2DF
Tetradic#E2DBD9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°280°

#dfd9e2 sits at 280°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red87.5%
Green85.1%
Blue88.6%
R · 0–255
223
0xdf
G · 0–255
217
0xd9
B · 0–255
226
0xe2

CMYK percentages

Cyan1.3%
Magenta4.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)11.4%

Total ink coverage is 17%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dfd9e2 text on a black background

contrast 15.16:1

Card sample

#dfd9e2 text on a white background

contrast 1.39:1

Card sample

#dfd9e2 on grey

1.26:1

#dfd9e2 on its own surface

1.29:1

#dfd9e2 on its dark surface

12.59:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dfd9e2;
Background color
Panel with #dfd9e2 background
background-color: #dfd9e2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dfd9e2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(223, 217, 226, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(223, 217, 226, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dfd9e2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dfd9e2, #E2D9DF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfd9e2, #E2D9DD);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dfd9e2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dfd9e2;
caret-color: #dfd9e2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dfd9e2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3F1F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dfd9e2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dfd9e2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dfd9e2 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, 217, 226, 0.5)
rgb(223 217 226 / 50%)
#dfd9e280
hsl(280 13% 87% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dfd9e2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dfd9e21a#FCFBFC
20%#dfd9e233#F9F7F9
40%#dfd9e266#F2F0F3
60%#dfd9e299#ECE8EE
80%#dfd9e2cc#E5E1E8

Gradients from #dfd9e2

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, #F5F3F6, #dfd9e2 45%, #433748);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dfd9e2, #D5C8CF);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfd9e2, #DCE2D9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F8F6F8 0%, #dfd9e2 45%, #433748 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F6F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #F6F6F8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EFEAEE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #433748 0%, transparent 65%), #dfd9e2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dfd9e2

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.

#dfd9e2 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

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 15.16:1.

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.

#dfd9e2, answered

What color is #dfd9e2?

#dfd9e2 is a pale muted violet, closest to Lavender (ΔE2000 5.6). It sits at 280° on the hue wheel with 13% saturation and 87% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #dfd9e2?

rgb(223, 217, 226) — 223 red, 217 green and 226 blue out of 255, or 87.5% / 85.1% / 88.6% by channel.

What is #dfd9e2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(280, 13%, 87%) and hsv(280, 4%, 89%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dfd9e2 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7080 and perceived brightness is 86%, so black text on it reaches 15.16:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dfd9e2?

Black. It scores 15.16:1 against #dfd9e2, versus 1.39:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dfd9e2 accessible on a white background?

#dfd9e2 on white scores 1.39:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #856E90 to reach 4.5:1, or #62516B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dfd9e2?

#DCE2D9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E1E2D9 and #D9E2DB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dfd9e2?

For interface work: #F8F6F8 as the surface, #D8D1DC for borders, #786382 for secondary text, #6B7755 as an accent and #433748 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DBD9E2 and #E2D9E1 stays calm, while #DCE2D9 is the loudest partner.

What is #dfd9e2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(1%, 4%, 0%, 11%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dfd9e2 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 54 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #E2D9E2; nudged cooler, #DCD8E3.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dfd9e2?

The neutral family — its 500 step is #737373, ΔE2000 31.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dfd9e2 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dfd9e2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dfd9e2] or text-[#dfd9e2], 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 #dfd9e2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(223, 217, 226, 0.5), or #dfd9e280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EFECF1; over black, #706D71.

Is #dfd9e2 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 6.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dfd9e2 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 #dfd9e2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F5F3F6, #dfd9e2 45%, #433748). For more colour, a short hue run to #D5C8CF keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dfd9e2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dfd9e2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.