radiance

American  

[ray-dee-uhns] / ˈreɪ di əns /

noun

• radiances
  plural

1. radiant brightness or light.

   the radiance of the tropical sun.

   Synonyms:

   brilliance, splendor, resplendence

2. warm, cheerful brightness.

   the radiance of her expression.

3. Rare. radiation.

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radiance British  

/ ˈreɪdɪəns /

noun

1. the quality or state of being radiant

2. 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonradiance
  noun
• subradiance
  noun
• superradiance
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• radiances
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of radiance

First recorded in 1595–1605; radi(ant) + -ance

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Compare meaning

How does radiance compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• irradiance vs. radiance

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Explanation

Radiance is a type of glowing: either from a light source like the sun or a healthy, beaming person. The sun radiates lights, and bright objects that give off light rays have a quality called radiance. The sun's radiance can be felt the strongest in the afternoon. We use lights for their radiance: they brighten rooms and streets. Also, if someone is happy and healthy, we can talk about their radiance. A sign of radiance in a person is a wide smile, and pregnant women are often said to have a glow or radiance because they’re full of life.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

radiance radiances

More Hollywood romance came the next morning with George Cukor’s 1936 tragedy “Camille” starring Greta Garbo, at peak radiance on the Eastman’s print.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

However violent Gandhi’s quest for non-violence becomes, the production evolves into impossible radiance, turning the opera into something resembling a Passion Play.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

‘This Christmas, let’s celebrate the love we hold within ourselves and share it with the world around us. After all, wherever we are, we can create a home filled with grace, radiance, and endless possibilities.’

From Salon ● Dec. 11, 2025

Its singular radiance owes much to both romantic and religious impulses that Mr. Roeck’s book underplays.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2025

For in a swift radiance of illumination he saw a glimpse of human struggle and of valor.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

In those dim longdrawn expanses, all is so immeasurable; much so disastrous, ghastly; your very radiances and straggling light-beams have a supernatural character.

From Sartor Resartus, and On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle

Reeves smiled at the gloomy fancy, and Helen smiled back at him with one of her sudden radiances.

From Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1896 to 1901 by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

These aërial creatures throng to contemplate the Virgin, and their forms recall those radiances in the shape of crowns that fill the Dantesque Paradise, making the name of Mary resound with their praises.

From Great Pictures, As Seen and Described by Famous Writers by Esther Singleton

Creation, no longer monotonous, acclaimed him, in widening melody, in brighter radiances.

From The Longest Journey by E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster

The jagged crest of the peak shot sudden radiances of flame-crimson, then bathed itself in a flow of rose-pinks and thin, indescribable reds and pulsating golds.

From Kings in Exile by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts

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