illuminating

[ ih-loo-muh-ney-ting ]

adjective

1. giving or casting light.
2. informative; enlightening.

illuminating

/ ɪˈluːmɪˌneɪtɪŋ /

adjective

1. serving to inform or clarify; instructive

Derived Forms

• ilˈlumiˌnatingly, adverb

Other Words From

• nonil·lumi·nating adjective
• nonil·lumi·nating·ly adverb
• unil·lumi·nating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of illuminating¹

First recorded in 1555–65; illuminat(e) + -ing ²

Example Sentences

A train cruises by their window at night like a caterpillar, the yellow windows of separate lives in other buildings illuminating its way.

From Los Angeles Times

They came up to me afterward and said they laughed, they cried, and also that it was illuminating, that they learned so much.

From Los Angeles Times

While information within India remains scarce, many women say they are turning to social media and that online resources are often more illuminating than conversations with their doctors.

From BBC

In the name of war, this century has seen an astonishing erosion of constraints on that very power, as Yale law professor Harold Hongju Koh details in his illuminating new book, "The National Security Constitution in the Twenty-First Century."

From Salon

Then she shared an illuminating insight.

From Salon

Related Words

• enlightening