Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) a former dandy, now fallen on hard times and thus less resplendent.

1778		Mme D’Arblay Diary (1891) I 27: There was a fade, empty fellow at table with us.
a.1909		press cutting in J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 126/1: A young lady employed at one of the Exposition displays rather took the shine off of a fade the other day. The fade, recently a dude, walked up to the place where she was stationed [...].

2. (US black) a derog. term for a white person.

1929		C. McKay Banjo 217: We have words like ofay, pink, fade, spade, Mr. Charlie, cracker, peckawood, hoojah, and so on. The stock is always increasing because as the whites get on to the old words we invent new ones.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 55: Fade Term for a white person .

3. (US black) a black person who becomes immersed in the white world and thus ‘fades away’.

1994

C. Major Juba to Jive.

4. (US black) short-cropped black hair, pioneered by the hip-hop culture, usu. featuring patterns delineated through an even closer shave [it fades into the skull].

1988		Eble Campus Sl. Mar.
1991		L. Bing Do or Die (1992) 40: The driver and the guy in the passenger seat are both [...] black. Their haircuts, called ‘fades,’ are highly styled, carefully constructed flattops with geometric designs etched into the closely shaven sides.
2001		UGK ‘Choppin’ Blades’ 🎵 In a black ’Lac mackin’ wit’ a bop in a fade.
2009		Observer Mag. 4 Jan. 18: An oversized gold medallion, a fade haircut, and puffy Air Jordans.
2021		T. Pluck Boy from County Hell 43: [He] kept his hair in a close fade instead of a halo of Afro.

5. (US campus) a badly dressed person.

1997–2000

Da Bomb 🌐 10: Fade: A poorly dressed person.

6. see fadeaway n.