opalescent
[oh-puh-les-uh nt]
- exhibiting a play of colors like that of the opal.
- having a milky iridescence.
Origin of opalescent
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for opalescent
Contemporary Examples
The opalescent, minty-green louche billows under the ice water droplets.
Boris plunged in his hand and drew out an exquisite marble thing, blue-veined, rose-tinted, and glistening with opalescent drops.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the ShowRobert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
Historical Examples
A face was there—a man with a blur of opalescent light behind him.
The World BeyondRaymond King Cummings
The sun was rising, and the water assumed an opalescent hue.
The Historical Nights' EntertainmentRafael Sabatini
How could he fasten the repellor to that great, impenetrable, opalescent bulk?
The Planetoid of PerilPaul Ernst
The soft, opalescent mornings are fragrant with love and pleasure.
The Choice of LifeGeorgette Leblanc
The evening daylight in the streets was large and luminous, opalescent and empty.
The Wisdom of Father BrownG. K. Chesterton
opalescent
- having or emitting an iridescence like that of an opal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for opalescent
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
opalescent
(ō′pə-lĕs′ənt)
- Resembling an opal in the display of various colors, often used to describe certain bacterial cultures.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
opalescent
[ō′pə-lĕs′ənt]
- Exhibiting a milky iridescence like that of opal.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.