luminous
Americanadjective
-
radiating or reflecting light; shining; bright.
- Synonyms:
- brilliant, resplendent, radiant, lucid
- Antonyms:
- dark
-
lighted up or illuminated; well-lighted.
the luminous ballroom.
- Antonyms:
- dark
-
brilliant intellectually; enlightened or enlightening, as a writer or a writer's works.
a luminous concept; luminous prose.
- Synonyms:
- intelligent, bright
- Antonyms:
- stupid
-
clear; readily intelligible.
a concise, luminous report.
- Synonyms:
- lucid, perspicuous, understandable
- Antonyms:
- obscure
adjective
-
radiating or reflecting light; shining; glowing
luminous colours
-
(not in technical use) exhibiting luminescence
luminous paint
-
full of light; well-lit
-
(of a physical quantity in photometry) evaluated according to the visual sensation produced in an observer rather than by absolute energy measurements Compare radiant
luminous flux
luminous intensity
-
easily understood; lucid; clear
-
enlightening or wise
Other Word Forms
- luminously adverb
- luminousness noun
- nonluminous adjective
- nonluminously adverb
- nonluminousness noun
- self-luminous adjective
- semiluminous adjective
- semiluminously adverb
- semiluminousness noun
- unluminous adjective
- unluminously adverb
- unluminousness noun
Etymology
Origin of luminous
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English word from Latin word lūminōsus. See lumen, -ous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Quasars, first identified in the 1960s, rank among the most luminous objects known.
From Science Daily
A new study presents the most detailed and complete model yet of luminous black hole accretion, the process by which black holes pull in surrounding matter and emit intense radiation.
From Science Daily
It is inescapable that people have most focused on Frank’s sculptural, curvilinear forms, his luminous exterior surfaces, and yet what I find most profound about his architecture is how he enchanted and enlivened space.
From Los Angeles Times
The hall is at once a luminous public landmark and a workhorse.
From Los Angeles Times
Meagan Boyd is a Southern California–based artist and poet whose work blends ritual, ancestral memory and celestial symbolism into luminous visual poems.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
