iridescent
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of iridescent
Explanation
Iridescent is an adjective that means lustrous and pearly, giving off a brilliant sheen like an oil slick or, well, a pearl. Iridescent came to be in 1796, when some enthusiastic word maker took the Latin word iris, which means "rainbow," and morphed it into an English word that describes anything giving off a luminous, rainbow sheen or that changes color in the light. It's a great descriptive word — if you can resist the urge to spell it with an extra "r."
Vocabulary lists containing iridescent
The Old Man and the Sea
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"The Hunger Games" Vocabulary from Chapter 1
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The Secret Life of Bees
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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.
The team found that sea silk's iridescent appearance comes from layered spherical protein structures known as "photonin."
From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026
Outside is a serene garden under a canopy of branches weighed down by iridescent copper bells, all handmade.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
This elusive, iridescent predator relies on split-second timing and is rarely seen, let alone photographed.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
Where her vision clears, she’s in a hall lit by candlelight and crystal chandeliers draped in pearls, dressed in an iridescent gown and jewels evocative of the decade’s New Romantic style.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026
I was dusting when I saw the picture: a rough shell holding slippery, slimy innards and, right in the middle, a perfect, iridescent white pearl.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
