#ADB5B6 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 #ADB5B6 works with other colors. Named schemes with #ADB5B6 in its natural role, and a note on why the supporting colors balance it.
Ash Gray 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.
Ash Gray opens this coastal palette with sea-glass and warm sand alongside it, grounded by driftwood grey and a deep-navy anchor.
Ash Gray is the vivid signal in this product UI — on a near-black surface with cool white, a slate grey and a lighter tint of Ash Gray.
Ash Gray keeps this Nordic scheme quiet — cool greys and a soft white around it, a muted-blue support and a charcoal anchor.
Ash Gray 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 Ash Gray carrying the quiet middle.
How #ADB5B6 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 #ADB5B6 at work across the surfaces designers actually ship.
:root {
--color-base: #ADB5B6;
--color-base-rgb: 173 181 182;
--color-base-oklch: oklch(76.7% 0.009 205.9);
--color-50: #F7F8F8;
--color-100: #E9ECEC;
--color-200: #D4D8D9;
--color-300: #B4BBBB;
--color-400: #949D9E;
--color-500: #757E80;
--color-600: #5D6465;
--color-700: #454A4A;
--color-800: #2F3232;
--color-900: #1D2020;
--color-on-base: #141310;
}
// tailwind.config.js
colors: {
ash-gray: {
50: '#F7F8F8',
100: '#E9ECEC',
200: '#D4D8D9',
300: '#B4BBBB',
400: '#949D9E',
500: '#757E80',
600: '#5D6465',
700: '#454A4A',
800: '#2F3232',
900: '#1D2020',
},
}
$base: #ADB5B6; $base-ink: #141310; $base-50: #F7F8F8; $base-100: #E9ECEC; $base-200: #D4D8D9; $base-300: #B4BBBB; $base-400: #949D9E; $base-500: #757E80; $base-600: #5D6465; $base-700: #454A4A; $base-800: #2F3232; $base-900: #1D2020; $base-hover: #889496; $base-subtle: #E7E9E9;
{
"color": {
"base": {
"value": "#ADB5B6",
"type": "color"
},
"onBase": {
"value": "#141310",
"type": "color"
},
"scale": {
"50": {
"value": "#F7F8F8",
"type": "color"
},
"100": {
"value": "#E9ECEC",
"type": "color"
},
"200": {
"value": "#D4D8D9",
"type": "color"
},
"300": {
"value": "#B4BBBB",
"type": "color"
},
"400": {
"value": "#949D9E",
"type": "color"
},
"500": {
"value": "#757E80",
"type": "color"
},
"600": {
"value": "#5D6465",
"type": "color"
},
"700": {
"value": "#454A4A",
"type": "color"
},
"800": {
"value": "#2F3232",
"type": "color"
},
"900": {
"value": "#1D2020",
"type": "color"
}
}
}
}