Translation guide
How to express 'turn white' in Japanese, covering physical color change, emotional paleness, and metaphorical uses.
Often used for the sky turning white at dawn, or for something fading to white.
空が白み始めた。
The sky began to turn white.
Technical term for bleaching or whitening, used in chemistry or materials science.
サンゴが白化している。
The coral is turning white (bleaching).
Describing a person's face losing color due to strong emotion.
Literally 'face turns pale', the most natural way to say someone went white with fear or shock.
その知らせを聞いて、彼は顔が青ざめた。
Hearing the news, his face turned white.
Idiomatic: 'the blood drains from one's face'. Emphasizes the sudden loss of color.
恐怖で血の気が引いた。
I turned white with fear.
Formal/literary term for turning pale. Often used in written descriptions.
彼女は蒼白になった。
She turned white as a sheet.
Describing someone who becomes pale due to intense anger rather than fear.
Specifies that the paleness is from anger.
彼は怒りで顔が青ざめた。
He turned white with anger.
Idiomatic expression for turning white with rage.
あまりの怒りで血の気が引いた。
I turned white with sheer anger.
Metaphorical use, such as starting fresh or becoming innocent.
Literally 'return to white paper', meaning to start over with a clean slate. Not a direct translation of 'turn white' but conveys the metaphorical sense.
計画を白紙に戻そう。
Let's turn the plan back to a blank slate.
While 白くなる means 'become white', it is not used for faces turning pale from emotion. Use 青ざめる or 血の気が引く instead.
× 顔が白くなった。
His face turned white. (unnatural)
○ 顔が青ざめた。
His face turned pale.