radiance
Americannoun
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radiant brightness or light.
the radiance of the tropical sun.
- Synonyms:
- brilliance, splendor, resplendence
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warm, cheerful brightness.
the radiance of her expression.
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Rare. radiation.
noun
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the quality or state of being radiant
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Le. a measure of the amount of electromagnetic radiation leaving or arriving at a point on a surface. It is the radiant intensity in a given direction of a small element of surface area divided by the orthogonal projection of this area onto a plane at right angles to the direction
Other Word Forms
- nonradiance noun
- subradiance noun
- superradiance noun
Etymology
Origin of radiance
Compare meaning
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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.
She’s by his side clasping her hands, wearing a colorful blouse that pales in radiance to Huerta’s hopeful face as she looks at the crowd before them.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026
As Elmire, Ms. Gray has a gentle radiance and tolerant air of affection for her husband’s folly.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025
Another critic said he had "a fluid physical grace and an inner radiance that sometimes makes it seem as if he's lit from within".
From BBC • Sep. 16, 2025
How could Fiyero not succumb to her inner radiance?
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2024
St. John said these words as he pronounced his sermons, with a quiet, deep voice; with an unflushed cheek, and a coruscating radiance of glance.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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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.