scintillate

American  

[sin-tl-eyt] / ˈsɪn tlˌeɪt /

verb (used without object)

scintillated, scintillating

1. to emit sparks.

2. to sparkle; flash.

   a mind that scintillates with brilliance.

3. to twinkle, as the stars.

4. Electronics. (of a spot of light or image on a radar display) to shift rapidly around a mean position.

5. Physics.

   1. (of the amplitude, phase, or polarization of an electromagnetic wave) to fluctuate in a random manner.

   2. (of an energetic photon or particle) to produce a flash of light in a phosphor by striking it.

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verb (used with object)

scintillated, scintillating

1. to emit as sparks; flash forth.

scintillate British  

/ ˈsɪntɪˌleɪt /

verb

1. (also tr) to give off (sparks); sparkle; twinkle

2. to be animated or brilliant

3. physics to give off flashes of light as a result of the impact of particles or photons

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Other Word Forms

• scintillant adjective
• scintillantly adverb

Etymology

Origin of scintillate

First recorded in 1615–25, scintillate is from the Latin word scintillātus (past participle of scintillāre to send out sparks, flash). See scintilla, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

Liverpool certainly didn't scintillate with their display in the Midlands but they showed the resilience of champions.

From BBC • Feb. 22, 2026

“Sky Islands” evokes the magical Philippines upper rainforests, where sounds scintillate in a thinned atmosphere that gives gongs new glories, where animals capable of great ascension exclusively live, where the mind is ready for enlightenment.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2025

Space telescopes see the universe undistorted by Earth’s atmosphere, whose shifting air causes stars to scintillate, or twinkle, and whose gas molecules block many wavelengths entirely, including much of the infrared.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 14, 2022

Its luminous blue twilight sky and inky shadows scintillate while New Yorkers with little skull faces go about their business.

From New York Times • Apr. 1, 2021

Still, it cannot but be that some gems shall scintillate more than others, or, at all events, be of coarser and duller water.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 58, Number 358, August 1845 by Various