sheen
1 Americannoun
noun
-
a gleaming or glistening brightness; lustre
-
poetic splendid clothing
adjective
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Related Words
See polish.
Other Word Forms
- sheenful adjective
- sheenless adjective
- sheenly adverb
- sheeny adjective
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
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.
When he opens it, the violin gleams with the sheen of a freshly split chestnut.
From Los Angeles Times
The track lacks grip in the dry, run as it is on normal roads with the sheen of millions of cars driving on them throughout the year.
From BBC
An aerial survey didn’t show debris or oily sheen in the water from the boats that burned, Keltner said.
From Seattle Times
The ring was slightly bent, and its old golden sheen had acquired the faint glint of a brass antique.
From New York Times
The Coast Guard circled nearby waterways with a drone and later a helicopter, searching for a sheen on the water that would indicate oil.
From Seattle Times
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.
