- a variation of luster.
lustre
Americannoun
noun
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reflected light; sheen; gloss
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radiance or brilliance of light
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great splendour of accomplishment, beauty, etc
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a substance used to polish or put a gloss on a surface
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a vase or chandelier from which hang cut-glass drops
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a drop-shaped piece of cut glass or crystal used as a decoration on a chandelier, vase, etc
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a shiny metallic surface on some pottery and porcelain
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( as modifier )
lustre decoration
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mineralogy the way in which light is reflected from the surface of a mineral. It is one of the properties by which minerals are defined
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lustre
C16: from Old French, from Old Italian lustro, from Latin lustrāre to make bright; related to lustrum
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.
See Examples For:
He argued that rival destinations were gaining ground while Vienna, increasingly expensive compared to other central European capitals, "is losing its lustre".
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Versace's lustre had been waning in recent years, unlike that of the Prada Group, which is in robust health, fuelled by strong sales of its younger Miu Miu Line.
From Barron's ● Dec. 2, 2025
The mold is hand polished to a mirror finish, giving the bumper its lustre.
From Reuters ● Sep. 18, 2023
There were many reasons for their failings, one of the most striking being the fading lustre of an ageing golden generation.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2022
Then the backgrounds ought to be neither too bright nor too dim, so that the shadows may not obscure the images nor the lustre make them glitter.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
O Light that knew no dawn, That shines to endless day, All things in earth and heaven Are lustred by Thy ray; No eye can to Thy throne ascend, Nor mind Thy brightness comprehend.
From Hymns of the Greek Church Translated with Introduction and Notes by John Brownlie
Before the lustred pots themselves shed a baleful gleam over this narrative, something should obviously be said about Italian wells and why they contain pots.
From The Collectors by Frank Jewett Mather
Faith sings a song amidst the whirl of life: "With mercy and with judgment, My web of time He wove; And aye the dews of sorrow Were lustred with His love."
From Old Groans and New Songs Being Meditations on the Book of Ecclesiastes by Frederick Charles Jennings
Let into the woodwork panelling in the west bay there are two small lustred Persian tiles of the thirteenth century.
From Frederic Lord Leighton An Illustrated Record of His Life and Work by Ernest Rhys
The lustred wares of Spain declined late in the thirteenth century, but not before8 its exportation to Italy by way of Majorca had stimulated the production of Italian Majolica.
From Pottery, for Artists Craftsmen & Teachers by George J. Cox
He blushed with delight when he fancied he saw himself in the middle of a large office, with lustring elbow sleeves, and a pen behind his ear.
From Theresa Raquin by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly
The smothering, or reducing, as then practised, was similar to the lustring methods used in Italy in the sixteenth century, or in the manufacture of the blue bricks to-day.
From Pottery, for Artists Craftsmen & Teachers by George J. Cox
Conceive it pawed about and handled between the rude jests of tarpaulin ruffians—a thing of its delicate texture—the salt bilge wetting it till it became as vapid as a damaged lustring.
From The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 2 Elia and The Last Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb
I remember that I wore a nightgown of pale blue lustring, with a chip hat trimmed with ribands of the same colour.
From Beaux and Belles of England Mrs. Mary Robinson, Written by Herself, With the lives of the Duchesses of Gordon and Devonshire by Mary Robinson
Once on a day let my beloved write my name, And pour the lustring water with his rosy hands!
From Vidy?pati: Bang?ya pad?bali; songs of the love of R?dh? and Krishna by Vidy?pati Th?kura
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.
