sheen
noun
luster; brightness; radiance.
sheen
1 American
[sheen]
/ ʃin /
Sheen
2
American
[sheen]
/ ʃin /
noun
sheen
British
/ ʃiːn /
noun
-
a gleaming or glistening brightness; lustre
-
poetic splendid clothing
adjective
Synonym Usage
See polish.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sheensimple
-
sheenssimple
-
have sheenedperfect
-
has sheenedperfect
-
am sheeningprogressive
-
are sheeningprogressive
-
is sheeningprogressive
-
have been sheeningperfect progressive
-
has been sheeningperfect progressive
Past
-
sheenedsimple
-
had sheenedperfect
-
was sheeningprogressive
-
were sheeningprogressive
-
had been sheeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sheen
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
Explanation
A sheen is a quality of things that are shiny, usually with reflected light. Anything that shines has a sheen, like satin in candlelight or a beautiful head of hair. Shakespeare loved using words in fresh new ways, and he did that with the adjective for sheen (for “beautiful, bright”) in Hamlet. He used sheen as a noun, and it’s been that way ever since. A sheen is a luster that happens because of reflected light. A well-polished table has a sheen, as does a car that's just been washed. Shined shoes have a sheen. If it’s shiny and beautiful, it has a sheen.
Vocabulary lists containing sheen
Unit 1: Telling Details
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The City of Ember
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Skellig
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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.
Bayern may have gone out against Paris St-Germain in a classic two-leg Champions League semi-final, but this cannot take the sheen off Kane's stunning season.
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
For a crypto conference, this one had a surprisingly corporate sheen.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
Apart from non-native speakers, there may be other subgroups of writers whose prose has the focus-grouped sheen of ChatGPT output.
From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026
Later, the counter began to crowd with flaky croissants, sticky pastry, brioches with amber sheen.
From Salon • Feb. 5, 2026
Her skin had had a moist pinkish sheen, and her hair had been long, dyed deep brown and ironed into loose curls.
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
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.
