Acceptably Anthracite
Acceptably Anthracite (#140428) is a deep indigo with a jewel character. It carries the deep, saturated richness of a gemstone. Authoritative and slightly formal, it works well for type and heavy UI elements. Its HSL profile (267°, 82%, 9%) places it in the highly saturated band at a dark lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary lime. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.
Etymology
Latin acceptābilis, receivable — adverbial-and-adjectival suffix -ly. As a color modifier, acceptably implies a neutral-and-satisfactory-and-fitting quality where the hue carries the visual register of acceptable-and-fitting-and-satisfactory coordinated color-decision matched to its functional requirement. Sits at the neutral-and-traditional end of the grid, parallel to adequately and sufficiently in usage.
The highest rank of coal — over ninety-two percent fixed carbon, with low volatile content and a near-metallic luster. Mined principally in northeastern Pennsylvania and rarely elsewhere. The color refers to a clean anthracite face: a deep, slightly muted black with the slight blue-purple metallic luster of high-rank coal. Cooler than coal, deeper than graphite, with the industrial weight of the fuel that heated New York and Philadelphia through the early twentieth century.
Closest matches
The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.
Variations
Click any swatch to exploreHarmonies
Accessibility
How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.
The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.