Ausgeblassene

Ausgeblassene is the attributive form of the German past participle from ausblasen, meaning to blow out or extinguish. It describes something that has been extinguished, such as a candle, flame, or light. The form is used before a noun and its ending changes with gender, number, and case. For example: eine ausgeblasene Kerze (a blown-out candle), das ausgeblasene Licht (the extinguished light), die ausgeblasenen Kerzen (the extinguished candles).

As a participial adjective, ausgeblassene derives from the stem ausgeblasen and is used in everyday language and literary contexts to convey that a source of light or life has been removed. The exact spelling is determined by German declension rules, resulting in forms like die ausgeblasenen Kerzen, das ausgeblasene Licht, or eine ausgeblasene Kerze. The morphology reflects the gender and number of the noun it modifies, as well as the case.

Usage and nuance: in prose and poetry, the term often evokes stillness, absence, or silence—an atmosphere created by extinguished lights or by the end of activity. While common in descriptive writing, it is less frequent in everyday speech than the simple verb ausblasen, but it remains a standard descriptive option when a noun needs an explicit attribute of being extinguished.

See also: ausblasen, past participles used as adjectives in German, and related descriptive constructions.