scintillate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to emit sparks.
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to sparkle; flash.
a mind that scintillates with brilliance.
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to twinkle, as the stars.
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Electronics. (of a spot of light or image on a radar display) to shift rapidly around a mean position.
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Physics.
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(of the amplitude, phase, or polarization of an electromagnetic wave) to fluctuate in a random manner.
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(of an energetic photon or particle) to produce a flash of light in a phosphor by striking it.
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verb (used with object)
verb
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(also tr) to give off (sparks); sparkle; twinkle
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to be animated or brilliant
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physics to give off flashes of light as a result of the impact of particles or photons
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of scintillate
First recorded in 1615–25, scintillate is from the Latin word scintillātus (past participle of scintillāre to send out sparks, flash). See scintilla, -ate 1
Explanation
The verb scintillate means to twinkle or glow, as in a flickering light. You may find it romantic to sit on the deck overlooking a lake on a clear night, where you can enjoy the scintillating stars in the sky and the reflection of the moon on the water. Scintillate means to be sparkling and lively. Scintillate has its roots in the Latin words scintillare, meaning "to sparkle," and scintilla, meaning "a spark." The verb scintillate is related to the adjective scintillating and the noun scintilla. If you enjoy witty repartee, people may say your conversation scintillates with humor and they enjoy how you are so clever.
Vocabulary lists containing scintillate
Dubliners
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The War of the Worlds
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Simon Sort of Says
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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:
Liverpool certainly didn't scintillate with their display in the Midlands but they showed the resilience of champions.
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2026
Space telescopes see the universe undistorted by Earth’s atmosphere, whose shifting air causes stars to scintillate, or twinkle, and whose gas molecules block many wavelengths entirely, including much of the infrared.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 14, 2022
Serving that theme means not adding scintillating fictional details just to scintillate and, more importantly, not perpetuating harmful stereotypes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2019
But it's not just dark-matter particles that cause argon to scintillate like this, so we have to minimize interference.
From Nature ● Sep. 27, 2016
His lips are livid with rage, his brow black with chagrin, while his eyes fairly scintillate with unsatisfied vengeance.
From The Flag of Distress A Story of the South Sea by Mayne Reid
Kevin De Bruyne scintillated throughout, with Riyad Mahrez closely behind.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 21, 2019
The American consumer world is thrilled into electric activity, the rubbish scintillated and redeemed.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 8, 2017
The Dutch midfielder’s added-time header came as City scintillated before the break and seriously ran out of gas after it.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 5, 2016
It was as large as half a mat; it was multicolored, and it scintillated.
From Time Magazine Archive
What struggle there was in him between Nature and Grace in this interval, I cannot tell: only singular gleams scintillated in his eyes, and strange shadows passed over his face.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Probably most impressive, a category closely followed by economists known as real final sales rose at a scintillating 3.9% annual pace — the highest reading in more than three years.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
Enter “Dad Brain,” a scintillating if uneven book by Darby Saxbe, a professor of psychology at the University of Southern California and an expert on fatherhood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Iraola, therefore, will have been thrilled to see Isak showing scintillating form of old as he was instrumental as Sweden thrashed Tunisia 5-1 in Monterrey.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
"It's nearly invisible to the naked eye but our instruments give rise to a vision of swaths of scintillating corona glowing as thunderstorms pass overhead," McFarland said.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 21, 2026
"Is this the kind of scintillating conversation we're going to have now that we don't have any secrets?"
From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell
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.
