definitions

scintillating

[ sin-tl-ey-ting ]
/ ˈsɪn tlˌeɪ tɪŋ /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scintillating ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

animated; vivacious; effervescent: a scintillating personality.
witty; brilliantly clever: a scintillating conversationalist; a play full of scintillating dialogue.

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RELATED WORDS

brilliant, exciting, dazzling, sparkling, lively, animated, twinkling, gleaming, smart, shining, glimmering, glinting, flashing, clever, ebullient, sprightly, witty

Nearby words

scintigraphy, scintilla, scintillant, scintillascope, scintillate, scintillating, scintillating scotoma, scintillation, scintillation counter, scintillation spectrometer, scintillator

Origin of scintillating

First recorded in 1880–85; scintillate + -ing1
Related formsscin·til·lat·ing·ly, adverbun·scin·til·lat·ing, adjective

Definition for scintillating (2 of 2)

scintillate

[ sin-tl-eyt ]
/ ˈsɪn tlˌeɪt /

verb (used without object), scin·til·lat·ed, scin·til·lat·ing.

to emit sparks.
to sparkle; flash: a mind that scintillates with brilliance.
to twinkle, as the stars.
Electronics. (of a spot of light or image on a radar display) to shift rapidly around a mean position.
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.

verb (used with object), scin·til·lat·ed, scin·til·lat·ing.

to emit as sparks; flash forth.

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, -ate1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for scintillating

British Dictionary definitions for scintillating (1 of 2)

scintillating

/ (ˈsɪntɪˌleɪtɪŋ) /

adjective

sparkling; twinkling
animated or brilliant
Derived Formsscintillatingly, adverb

British Dictionary definitions for scintillating (2 of 2)

scintillate

/ (ˈsɪntɪˌleɪt) /

verb (mainly intr)

(also tr) to give off (sparks); sparkle; twinkle
to be animated or brilliant
physics to give off flashes of light as a result of the impact of particles or photons
Derived Formsscintillant, adjectivescintillantly, adverb

Word Origin for scintillate

C17: from Latin scintillāre, from scintilla a spark
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scintillating

scintillate

v.

1620s, from Latin scintillatus, past participle of scintillare "to sparkle, glitter, gleam, flash," from scintilla "spark" (see scintilla). Related: Scintillated; scintillating.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper