Shade is defined as

• A. A pale or faint variation of a color
• B. The degree of darkness of a color (color + black)
• C. A color with high brightness
• D. The intensity of hue

Answer: (B)

Shade refers to how dark a color is, which happens when you mix the color with black. This makes the color deeper and less bright, distinguishing shade from tint (adding white to make it lighter) and from a tone (adding gray to reduce saturation). So the statement about the degree of darkness is the best fit because it directly captures what shade means. The other descriptions point to brightness, hue intensity, or saturation, which are different color properties. In practice, using darker shades helps create depth, contrast, and mood in design and rendering.