shimmer
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to shine with or reflect a subdued, tremulous light; gleam faintly.
- Synonyms:
- glimmer
-
to appear to quiver or vibrate in faint light or while reflecting heat waves.
noun
-
a subdued, tremulous light or gleam.
-
a quivering or vibrating motion or image as produced by reflecting faint light or heat waves.
verb
noun
Synonym Usage
See glisten.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
shimmersimple
-
shimmerssimple
-
have shimmeredperfect
-
has shimmeredperfect
-
am shimmeringprogressive
-
are shimmeringprogressive
-
is shimmeringprogressive
-
have been shimmeringperfect progressive
-
has been shimmeringperfect progressive
Past
-
shimmeredsimple
-
had shimmeredperfect
-
was shimmeringprogressive
-
were shimmeringprogressive
-
had been shimmeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shimmer
First recorded before 1100; Middle English schimeren, s(c)hemeren, Old English scimrian; cognate with Dutch schemeren, German schimmern “to glisten”
Explanation
When you shimmer you shine, although sometimes quite weakly. A shimmer is small and sometimes weak, and in danger of going out, but it's there all the same and often beautiful. You know how silk catches the light and shines in lovely ways? That's a shimmer. How about when you feel like it's the end of the world but there's a little piece of you that believes things are going to get better? That's a shimmer of hope. Or when you open a door to a dark room and the light from the hall falls into the darkness? That's a shimmer of light.
Vocabulary lists containing shimmer
Poetry Cafe
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Because of Winn-Dixie
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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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:
At night, the lights that illuminate the bridge shimmer like mini moons in the waters below.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
Nearby, racks of sequined jackets shimmer with slogans like "Make Heaven Crowded," worn by supporters well into their seventies who, for a few days at least, dress more like pop fans than retirees.
From Barron's ● Mar. 28, 2026
Much like stars shimmer when seen through Earth's atmosphere, pulsar radio signals also flicker as they move through space.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 6, 2026
But once the shimmer of being the “new hot shiny thing” dulled and she settled into her life as a musician, she realized she was being held to a different standard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025
Everything goes dark as we pass through the thick wall; the shimmer of my moonstone badge is the only light.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
Produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch and written by his frequent collaborator Samson Raphaelson, this Paramount picture, running a pert 82 minutes, positively shimmers with wit and sizzles with innuendo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
We’d chat while waiting at the little Middle Eastern bakery that turns out the neighborhood’s best Barbari bread — long, sesame-and–black-caraway–speckled loaves that come out of the oven so hot the air around them shimmers.
From Salon ● Dec. 7, 2025
From its display case in the museum’s “Stories from Mesoamerica” hall, the iridescent plumage shimmers like a rainbow encased in glass, a tropical interloper to these northern climes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2025
On a first hearing, I did not find “11,000 Strings” particularly linear but rather like a loosely structured meditation that arrives, shimmers and departs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025
Yet the space beneath the cedar branches shimmers.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Wunmi Mosaku, up for best supporting actress for Sinners, opted for a striking blue dress, which shimmered on the red carpet.
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2026
But it also shimmered with optimism and adventure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 18, 2025
It was 96 degrees on a recent weekday afternoon, and the parking lot of a McDonald’s on Vine Street in Hollywood shimmered with heat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2024
Dresses, tops, trousers and headpieces shimmered with sequins.
From Reuters ● Sep. 2, 2023
Their high cheekbones shimmered with silver fae dust, a magic enhancer, and their long purple hair flowed in shiny waves.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
From a gas crater dubbed the "Gateway to Hell" to the shimmering marble buildings of its capital, Turkmenistan is tentatively opening up to tourists after decades of isolation.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
The Golden Goose is shimmering right now in terms of value.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
It’s an admirable acknowledgement of those behind the scenes, slotting film reels into the Dryden’s 75-year-old projectors, summoning shimmering worlds before our eyes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
Auroras are most commonly seen near the polar regions, where charged solar particles interact with Earth's atmosphere to create shimmering lights in the sky.
From Science Daily ● May 22, 2026
"How much did the young tail-wagger see?"asks a squirrel in a shimmering silver space suit.
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
