#F5F5F5Whitesmoke is a very light neutral — a near-white that works as a supporting color rather than a statement.
Whitesmoke sits at 96% lightness with almost no saturation, which makes it a true workhorse neutral. In practice it behaves best as a page background or surface color: it stays out of the way, lets accent colors do the talking, and pairs safely with nearly any hue on the wheel.
Whitesmoke is light enough that it pairs better with dark text than white: black type on whitesmoke hits 19.26:1 — comfortably past the WCAG AA threshold — while white manages only 1.09:1. It shines as a section background, card fill or subtle highlight where a full-strength accent would shout.
Every palette below is computed from whitesmoke's position on the color wheel (hue 0°). Hover any swatch to see its code; click to copy.
Tints mix whitesmoke toward white; shades mix it toward black. Use the scale for hover states, borders and depth without leaving the hue.
WCAG 2.1 requires 4.5:1 for normal text (AA) and 3:1 for large text. Here's how whitesmoke performs, plus how it appears under the three main types of dichromatic color blindness (simulated approximation).
| Pairing | Ratio | Normal text | Large text |
|---|---|---|---|
| White text on Whitesmoke | 1.09:1 | Fail | Fail |
| Black text on Whitesmoke | 19.26:1 | AAA | AAA |
#F5F5F5#F5F5F5#F5F5F5Copy-ready snippets. In CSS you can also use the keyword whitesmoke directly.
:root {
--whitesmoke: #F5F5F5;
--whitesmoke-rgb: 245, 245, 245;
--whitesmoke-tint: #FAFAFA;
--whitesmoke-shade: #878787;
}
.btn-whitesmoke {
background: var(--whitesmoke);
color: #000000;
}// tailwind.config.js
colors: {
'whitesmoke': {
DEFAULT: '#F5F5F5',
light: '#FAFAFA',
dark: '#878787',
},
}The closest CSS named colors by perceptual (Lab) distance.