#9CA3AF Hex Color
A professional and muted blue grey
#9ca3af is an ashy, muted blue that leans heavily into grey. Its desaturated character provides a secure, professional foundation for UI design, especially in finance or government branding. Because it offers strong contrast against black text, it functions well as a large-scale background. Use it to temper brighter palettes, as it can look washed out when paired directly with pure white.
Questions about #9ca3af
What is #9ca3af in RGB, HSL and CMYK?
In RGB, #9ca3af is rgb(156, 163, 175), in HSL hsl(218, 11%, 65%) and in CMYK 11%, 7%, 0%, 31%.
Why does #9ca3af often look washed out on white backgrounds?
As a mid-tone color, #9ca3af lacks the depth necessary to create a sharp silhouette against a pure white background. It works much better when paired with darker surfaces or used as a soft text color against lighter backgrounds.
Is #9ca3af readable on white or black?
#9ca3af has a 2.53:1 contrast ratio on white and 8.27:1 on black. WCAG asks for 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large text, so on white it is too faint for text and on black it works for body text. Try other pairs in the contrast checker.