#ADB9BC 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 #ADB9BC works with other colors. Named schemes with #ADB9BC 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 #ADB9BC 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 #ADB9BC at work across the surfaces designers actually ship.
:root {
--color-base: #ADB9BC;
--color-base-rgb: 173 185 188;
--color-base-oklch: oklch(77.7% 0.014 214.4);
--color-50: #F7F8F8;
--color-100: #E8ECED;
--color-200: #D2D9DA;
--color-300: #B1BBBE;
--color-400: #919EA1;
--color-500: #728083;
--color-600: #5B6567;
--color-700: #434A4B;
--color-800: #2E3233;
--color-900: #1D1F20;
--color-on-base: #141310;
}
// tailwind.config.js
colors: {
ash-gray: {
50: '#F7F8F8',
100: '#E8ECED',
200: '#D2D9DA',
300: '#B1BBBE',
400: '#919EA1',
500: '#728083',
600: '#5B6567',
700: '#434A4B',
800: '#2E3233',
900: '#1D1F20',
},
}
$base: #ADB9BC; $base-ink: #141310; $base-50: #F7F8F8; $base-100: #E8ECED; $base-200: #D2D9DA; $base-300: #B1BBBE; $base-400: #919EA1; $base-500: #728083; $base-600: #5B6567; $base-700: #434A4B; $base-800: #2E3233; $base-900: #1D1F20; $base-hover: #86979C; $base-subtle: #E7EAEB;
{
"color": {
"base": {
"value": "#ADB9BC",
"type": "color"
},
"onBase": {
"value": "#141310",
"type": "color"
},
"scale": {
"50": {
"value": "#F7F8F8",
"type": "color"
},
"100": {
"value": "#E8ECED",
"type": "color"
},
"200": {
"value": "#D2D9DA",
"type": "color"
},
"300": {
"value": "#B1BBBE",
"type": "color"
},
"400": {
"value": "#919EA1",
"type": "color"
},
"500": {
"value": "#728083",
"type": "color"
},
"600": {
"value": "#5B6567",
"type": "color"
},
"700": {
"value": "#434A4B",
"type": "color"
},
"800": {
"value": "#2E3233",
"type": "color"
},
"900": {
"value": "#1D1F20",
"type": "color"
}
}
}
}