#9AA0A1 is a light neutral with only a whisper of temperate cast. On the Color Lab it reads clean and engineered, restrained and easy to live with. It holds up as a large surface and is too pale to lead as a primary accent.
Not just a swatch — here's how #9AA0A1 works with other colors. Named schemes with #9AA0A1 in its natural role, and a note on why the supporting colors balance it.
Cadet Grey sets a calm, sun-bleached base here, wrapped in bone and paper off-whites and a soft greige, with a single ink accent for wabi-sabi restraint.
Cadet Grey opens this coastal palette with sea-glass and warm sand alongside it, grounded by driftwood grey and a deep-navy anchor.
Cadet Grey is the vivid signal in this product UI — on a near-black surface with cool white, a slate grey and a lighter tint of Cadet Grey.
Cadet Grey keeps this Nordic scheme quiet — cool greys and a soft white around it, a muted-blue support and a charcoal anchor.
Cadet Grey is the single accent in this high-contrast editorial system — set on near-white paper against near-black ink, with a warm grey and a desaturated tint of Cadet Grey carrying the quiet middle.
How #9AA0A1 actually behaves in design work — read from its OKLCH lightness, chroma and hue, not just its raw numbers. Ten signals to help you decide where this color earns its place.
Not a swatch to memorise — a color to build with. Here is #9AA0A1 at work across the surfaces designers actually ship.
:root {
--color-base: #9AA0A1;
--color-base-rgb: 154 160 161;
--color-base-oklch: oklch(70.1% 0.007 208.8);
--color-50: #F7F8F8;
--color-100: #EAEBEB;
--color-200: #D5D7D8;
--color-300: #B5BABA;
--color-400: #959C9D;
--color-500: #767E7F;
--color-600: #5D6465;
--color-700: #45494A;
--color-800: #2F3232;
--color-900: #1D1F20;
--color-on-base: #141310;
}
// tailwind.config.js
colors: {
cadet-grey: {
50: '#F7F8F8',
100: '#EAEBEB',
200: '#D5D7D8',
300: '#B5BABA',
400: '#959C9D',
500: '#767E7F',
600: '#5D6465',
700: '#45494A',
800: '#2F3232',
900: '#1D1F20',
},
}
$base: #9AA0A1; $base-ink: #141310; $base-50: #F7F8F8; $base-100: #EAEBEB; $base-200: #D5D7D8; $base-300: #B5BABA; $base-400: #959C9D; $base-500: #767E7F; $base-600: #5D6465; $base-700: #45494A; $base-800: #2F3232; $base-900: #1D1F20; $base-hover: #798284; $base-subtle: #E1E3E3;
{
"color": {
"base": {
"value": "#9AA0A1",
"type": "color"
},
"onBase": {
"value": "#141310",
"type": "color"
},
"scale": {
"50": {
"value": "#F7F8F8",
"type": "color"
},
"100": {
"value": "#EAEBEB",
"type": "color"
},
"200": {
"value": "#D5D7D8",
"type": "color"
},
"300": {
"value": "#B5BABA",
"type": "color"
},
"400": {
"value": "#959C9D",
"type": "color"
},
"500": {
"value": "#767E7F",
"type": "color"
},
"600": {
"value": "#5D6465",
"type": "color"
},
"700": {
"value": "#45494A",
"type": "color"
},
"800": {
"value": "#2F3232",
"type": "color"
},
"900": {
"value": "#1D1F20",
"type": "color"
}
}
}
}