scintillate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to emit sparks.
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to sparkle; flash.
a mind that scintillates with brilliance.
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to twinkle, as the stars.
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Electronics. (of a spot of light or image on a radar display) to shift rapidly around a mean position.
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Physics.
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(of the amplitude, phase, or polarization of an electromagnetic wave) to fluctuate in a random manner.
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(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)
verb
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(also tr) to give off (sparks); sparkle; twinkle
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to be animated or brilliant
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physics to give off flashes of light as a result of the impact of particles or photons
Other Word Forms
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
Explanation
The verb scintillate means to twinkle or glow, as in a flickering light. You may find it romantic to sit on the deck overlooking a lake on a clear night, where you can enjoy the scintillating stars in the sky and the reflection of the moon on the water. Scintillate means to be sparkling and lively. Scintillate has its roots in the Latin words scintillare, meaning "to sparkle," and scintilla, meaning "a spark." The verb scintillate is related to the adjective scintillating and the noun scintilla. If you enjoy witty repartee, people may say your conversation scintillates with humor and they enjoy how you are so clever.
Vocabulary lists containing scintillate
Dubliners
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The War of the Worlds
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Simon Sort of Says
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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.
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
With a feeling of rapture and enchantment that was wholly new to me, I saw the star scintillate, change colour, and shine forth in all the exquisite hues of the rainbow....
From My Memoirs by Steinheil, Marguerite
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.
