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nacreous

American  
[nay-kree-uhs] / ˈneɪ kri əs /

adjective

  1. of or relating to nacre.

  2. resembling nacre; lustrous; pearly.

    a nacreous luster;

    a nacreous sky.


nacreous British  
/ ˈneɪkrɪəs /

adjective

  1. relating to or consisting of mother-of-pearl

  2. having the lustre of mother-of-pearl

    nacreous minerals

"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

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of nacreous

First recorded in 1830–40; nacre + -ous


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:

Looking like a "portal to the next dimension" or possibly a spaceship, the shimmering colours of nacreous cloud were spotted.

From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2023

It had the nacreous sheen of an oyster shell.

From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2022

The urge to reach, irritably, for the device during meals, conversations, parties and upon awakening, can partly be attributed to lust for the object and the soft, nacreous glow of the screen.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 23, 2019

Where the previous photo paintings relied mostly on a gray-scale palette, Ema glows with nacreous pink skin and golden hair—her body “seems to shine from within,” as one critic put it.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 14, 2019

The sunset, rosy, orange, nacreous in spots, flecked with pastel blues and streaks of lavender and blood, reflected gorgeously in those few school windows not yet broken.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

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