sheen

¹

[sheen]

noun

1. luster; brightness; radiance.

2. gleaming attire.

adjective

1. shining.

2. beautiful.

verb (used without object)

1. Scot. and North England.,  to shine.

Sheen

²

[sheen]

noun

1. Fulton (John), 1895–1979, U.S. Roman Catholic clergyman, writer, and teacher.

sheen

/ ʃiːn /

noun

1. a gleaming or glistening brightness; lustre

2. poetic,  splendid clothing

adjective

1. rare,  shining and beautiful; radiant

Other Word Forms

• sheeny adjective
• sheenful adjective
• sheenless adjective
• sheenly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of sheen¹

First recorded before 900; (adjective) Middle English sheene “beautiful, bright, shining,” Old English scēne; cognate with German schön; (verb) Middle English s(c)henen, derivative of the adjective; (noun) derivative of the adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sheen¹

Old English sciene; related to Old Norse skjōni white horse, Gothic skauns beautiful, Old High German scōni bright

Synonym Study

See polish.

Example Sentences

There had been a little rain, the track had a sheen to it, so it's certainly true that each driver along would have had better conditions than the one before.

From BBC

A light oil sheen, a sprained ankle and waterlogged cargo were among the damage reported when approximately 75 cargo containers tumbled off a stationed vessel at the Port of Long Beach on Tuesday morning.

From Los Angeles Times

In a two-star review, The Guardian said the actors were "let down by the overly glossy romcom-y sheen" or Warren Adler's novel, who wrote The War of the Roses, on which the film is based.

From BBC

The island, given an appropriately sickly, uninviting sheen by cinematographer Mathias Herndl, clearly wasn’t big enough for all of these new-world experimenters.

From Los Angeles Times

She pointed to the pond, which no longer had the foul odor or the oily sheen of the canal despite being just a few steps away.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• glaze 
• gleam 
• gloss 
• luster 
• patina 
• shimmer