opalescent

[ oh-puh-les-uhnt ]

adjective

1. exhibiting a play of colors like that of the opal.
2. having a milky iridescence.

opalescent

/ ˌəʊpəˈlɛsənt /

adjective

1. having or emitting an iridescence like that of an opal

opalescent

/ ō′pə-lĕs′ənt /

1. Exhibiting a milky iridescence like that of opal.

Derived Forms

• ˌopalˈescence, noun

Other Words From

• o·pal·es·cence noun
• o·pal·es·cent·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of opalescent¹

First recorded in 1805–15; opal + -escent

Example Sentences

Here’s How She Became a Global CelebrityYet of all these recent portrayals, it’s Emma Corrin’s, in the fourth season of Netflix’s fiction-based-on-fact drama The Crown, that comes closest to capturing Diana’s opalescent mystery.

From Time

The opalescent, minty-green louche billows under the ice water droplets.

From The Daily Beast

For a second the lily was enveloped in a milk-white foam, which disappeared, leaving the fluid opalescent.

From The Daily Beast

Boris plunged in his hand and drew out an exquisite marble thing, blue-veined, rose-tinted, and glistening with opalescent drops.

From The Daily Beast

The saline tracts between the prisms produce a milky or opalescent appearance.

From Project Gutenberg

We mounted to the upper deck, under the open sky, with its opalescent tints and shifting clouds to the west.

From Project Gutenberg

First, silvery threads of light began to weave along the bristling ridges of the east and opalescent flecks to glimmer overhead.

From Project Gutenberg

Two Venetian glass vases on the mantel gave out an opalescent gleam in the twilight.

From Project Gutenberg

When a great quantity of gelatin is present the filtrate will be opalescent instead of perfectly clear.

From Project Gutenberg