radiant

American  

[rey-dee-uhnt] / ˈreɪ di ənt /

adjective

1. emitting rays of light; shining; bright.

   the radiant sun;

   radiant colors.

   Synonyms:

   resplendent, refulgent, beaming

   Antonyms:

   dim

2. bright with joy, hope, etc..

   radiant smiles;

   a radiant future.

3. Physics. emitted or propagated by radiation.

4. Heraldry.

   1. noting a partition line having a series of flamelike indentations formed by ogees joined in zigzags; rayonny.

   2. (of a charge, as an ordinary) having an edge or edges so formed.

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noun

• radiants
  plural

1. a point or object from which rays proceed.

2. Astronomy. the point in the heavens from which a shower of meteors appears to radiate.

3. a refractory absorbing and radiating heat from the flames of a gas fireplace or the like.

radiant British  

/ ˈreɪdɪənt /

adjective

1. sending out rays of light; bright; shining

2. characterized by health, intense joy, happiness, etc

   a radiant countenance

3. emitted or propagated by or as radiation; radiated

   radiant heat

4. sending out heat by radiation

   a radiant heater

5. physics (of a physical quantity in photometry) evaluated by absolute energy measurements Compare luminous

   radiant flux

   radiant efficiency

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noun

1. a point or object that emits radiation, esp the part of a heater that gives out heat

2. astronomy the point in space from which a meteor shower appears to emanate

radiant Scientific  

/ rā′dē-ənt /

1. Transmitting light, heat, or other radiation. Stars, for example, are radiant bodies.

2. Consisting of or transmitted as radiation.

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1. The apparent celestial origin of a meteor shower. For example, a point in the constellation Gemini is the radiant of the Geminid meteor shower.

Synonym Usage

See bright.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antiradiant
  adjective
• nonradiant
  adjective
• superradiant
  adjective
• unradiant
  adjective
• nonradiantly
  adverb
• radiantly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• radiants
  plural

Etymology

Origin of radiant

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin radiant-, stem of radiāns “shining,” present participle of radiāre “to radiate light, shine,” verb derivative of radius “beam, ray”; see radius

Explanation

The adjective radiant is useful for describing anything that glows with warmth or light. When you open your eyes on a sunny summer morning and see your curtains glowing with sunlight, you can call them radiant. Something that shines or glows is radiant, and you can also describe anything that's bright as radiant, like a smile or a powerful emotion ("a radiant sense of happiness"). In science, radiant means "transmitted by radiation," and it usually describes heat, like the radiant heat from an oven. The Latin root is radiantem, "shining," and sometime around 1500 it started being used to describe physical beauty, which Shakespeare did in "Twelfth Night": "Most radiant, exquisite, and unmatchable beauty..."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

radiant radiants

Add orange-rimmed eyes with jet-black pupils set against white cheeks, a dashing black under-eye line and a radiant round orange bill hinge, and the puffin looks like something invented by a talented circus makeup artist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

If L7 was a statement, Finch was its punctuation, her crayon-bright hair complementing a radiant humanity.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

Ceuzany's voice ranges from crystalline highs to deep lows, as she performs everything from jazz to slam, commanding the stage with wavy blonde hair and earrings framing her radiant face.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

It measures not just the air temperature but takes into account humidity, radiant heat from the sun and the court surface temperature.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

“You can go back to sleep. O.K., Templeton, the soap ad will do, I guess. I’m not sure Wilbur’s action is exactly radiant, but it’s interesting.”

From "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White

He gave a bound, remaining fastened to the ground by one of his radiants, and raised the others like a bundle of reptiles.

From Mare Nostrum (Our Sea) A Novel by Charlotte Brewster Jordan

Yet, since a few detonating meteors have been found to proceed from ascertained radiants of shooting-stars, it is difficult to suppose that any generic difference separates them.

From A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century Fourth Edition by Agnes M. (Agnes Mary) Clerke

The order of their power as radiants and absorbents is that here indicated, bisulphide of carbon being the feeblest, and amylene the strongest of the six.

From Fragments of science, V. 1-2 by John Tyndall

The radiants carried them away, and I saw them no more.

From Lilith, a romance by George MacDonald

These are described as "meteors with stationary radiants," since for months together they seem to come from the same fixed points in the sky.

From A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century Fourth Edition by Agnes M. (Agnes Mary) Clerke

Related Words

• beaming
• brilliant
• gleaming
• glittering
• glowing
• incandescent
• lustrous
• resplendent
• shining
• sunny