prismatic
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or like a prism.
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formed by or as if by a transparent prism.
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spectral in color; brilliant.
prismatic colors.
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highly varied or faceted.
a prismatic existence.
adjective
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concerned with, containing, or produced by a prism
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exhibiting bright spectral colours
prismatic light
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crystallog another word for orthorhombic
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Relating to or resembling a prism.
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Formed by refraction of light through a prism, used especially of a spectrum of light.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prismatic
Explanation
Something that's prismatic reflects or resembles the multiple colors of the rainbow. The prismatic hues on the surface of the water brightened the gloomy day. You can use this adjective to describe something that looks like a geometrical prism, a three-dimensional shape with two parallel bases and sides which are all parallelograms. The tent you use when you go camping is prismatic in shape, for example. Prismatic also means "reflecting light the way a prism does," so you can describe the prismatic light that shines through ancient stained glass windows in a church.
Vocabulary lists containing prismatic
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 colors here are vivid and intense, creating the sense that prismatic light is glancing off the snowflakes to dazzle the eye.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
Because isn’t that what beauty is, in all of its prismatic totality — hard to kill, always in bloom?
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2024
The glass panels gleam in the sun, like an outsize version of the prismatic bluish-purple gem that glitters in the light.
From BBC • Oct. 23, 2024
Like hip-hop, breaking is represented by a prismatic range of cultures, each of which has evolved the form and lends its own flavors.
From Salon • Aug. 13, 2024
Each toad held a baton, sparkling with the prismatic light of anti-cheating magic.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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.
