luster
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The visual property of something that shines with reflected light.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
luhsterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈlʌstɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The visual property of something that shines with reflected light
The ability or condition of shining with reflected light; sheen, gleam, gloss, sparkle, shine, etc.
figurative
Shining light from within, luminosity, brightness, shine.
figurative
Shining beauty, splendor, attractiveness or attraction.
figurative
Shining fame, renown, glory.
A substance that imparts luster to a surface, such as polish, gloss, plumbago, glaze, etc.
verb
To coat with a lustrous material or glaze, to impart physical luster to an object.
transitive
To give luster, particularly
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The visual property of something that shines with reflected light
Used this way, luster is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- lustre , used mainly in Regional English
- shininess , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.