lustre
Americannoun
noun
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reflected light; sheen; gloss
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radiance or brilliance of light
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great splendour of accomplishment, beauty, etc
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a substance used to polish or put a gloss on a surface
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a vase or chandelier from which hang cut-glass drops
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a drop-shaped piece of cut glass or crystal used as a decoration on a chandelier, vase, etc
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a shiny metallic surface on some pottery and porcelain
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( as modifier )
lustre decoration
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mineralogy the way in which light is reflected from the surface of a mineral. It is one of the properties by which minerals are defined
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lustre
C16: from Old French, from Old Italian lustro, from Latin lustrāre to make bright; related to lustrum
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:
He argued that rival destinations were gaining ground while Vienna, increasingly expensive compared to other central European capitals, "is losing its lustre".
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
For one, she thinks working from home has "lost some of its lustre" among twenty-somethings.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025
Versace's lustre had been waning in recent years, unlike that of the Prada Group, which is in robust health, fuelled by strong sales of its younger Miu Miu Line.
From Barron's ● Dec. 2, 2025
The mold is hand polished to a mirror finish, giving the bumper its lustre.
From Reuters ● Sep. 18, 2023
Richard Parker’s fur lost its lustre, and some of it even fell away from his shoulders and haunches.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Faith sings a song amidst the whirl of life: "With mercy and with judgment, My web of time He wove; And aye the dews of sorrow Were lustred with His love."
From Old Groans and New Songs Being Meditations on the Book of Ecclesiastes by Jennings, Frederick Charles
Before the lustred pots themselves shed a baleful gleam over this narrative, something should obviously be said about Italian wells and why they contain pots.
From The Collectors by Mather, Frank Jewett
The policy, then, which in most simple and single, and least lustred with the pomp and bravery of ceremonies, cannot but be most expedient for edification.
From The Works of Mr. George Gillespie (Vol. 1 of 2) by Gillespie, George
Sometimes the backs of these dishes are as beautifully lustred as the fronts.
From Pottery, for Artists Craftsmen & Teachers by Cox, George J.
The earliest dated example of Persian lustred ware is a star-shaped tile of the year a.d.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various
The dress which I wore was plain and simple; it was composed of pale lilac lustring.
From Beaux and Belles of England Mrs. Mary Robinson, Written by Herself, With the lives of the Duchesses of Gordon and Devonshire by Robinson, Mary
Once on a day let my beloved write my name, And pour the lustring water with his rosy hands!
From Vidy?pati: Bang?ya pad?bali; songs of the love of R?dh? and Krishna by Vidy?pati Th?kura
In the list of the "wedding apparell" of Madam Phillips, of Boston, are velvet hoods, love-hoods, and "sneal hoods"; hoods of Persian, of lustring, of gauze; frequently scarlet hoods are named.
From Two Centuries of Costume in America, Volume 1 (1620-1820) by Earle, Alice Morse
The smothering, or reducing, as then practised, was similar to the lustring methods used in Italy in the sixteenth century, or in the manufacture of the blue bricks to-day.
From Pottery, for Artists Craftsmen & Teachers by Cox, George J.
The material called lutestring was formerly lustring, Fr. lustrine, from its glossiness.
From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest
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.
