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opalescence

American  
[oh-puh-les-uhns] / ˌoʊ pəˈlɛs əns /

noun

  1. a lustrous play of colors like that of an opal.

    This moonstone pendant has a lovely pearly opalescence.


Etymology

Origin of opalescence

opal + -escence

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.

Here, he is joined by the harpist Brandee Younger, who adds some lunar opalescence to his sound.

From New York Times • Apr. 5, 2024

Mering’s distinct alto has the opalescence of Karen Carpenter’s voice and the enveloping benevolence of Cass Elliot’s, though as a songwriter she shares a certain millennial poeticism with Lana Del Rey.

From New York Times • Nov. 17, 2022

His 1910 paper on "critical opalescence" explained, among other things, what?

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2011

If the Nixon Administration has acquired a reputation for somewhat gray formality, it appeared for this day to have taken on something like opalescence.

From Time Magazine Archive

In less than half a second the opalescence was gone, the fort shuddered, and shrieked out of the planet's atmosphere, a mass of lux now, and susceptible to the moleculars.

From Invaders from the Infinite by Campbell, John Wood