sheen
1 Americannoun
noun
-
a gleaming or glistening brightness; lustre
-
poetic splendid clothing
adjective
Related 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.
Despite hitting 1 million downloads in a week, the app lost its sheen, as regular users found little everyday use for a dedicated AI video app.
From Los Angeles Times
The aesthetic favors deliberate roughness and mistakes over a sterile, polished sheen.
From Los Angeles Times
It was while a silver sheen covered the ice and the water that I heard the sound.
From Literature
![]()
Perth and Kinross Council said there had been no reports of any sightings of fuel sheen in the River Tay or Loch Tay since Saturday afternoon.
From BBC
Even in the dim light of the basement, Jonah could tell that Chip had a panicky sheen of sweat on his face.
From Literature
![]()
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.