shimmer
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to shine with or reflect a subdued, tremulous light; gleam faintly.
- Synonyms:
- glimmer
-
to appear to quiver or vibrate in faint light or while reflecting heat waves.
noun
-
a subdued, tremulous light or gleam.
-
a quivering or vibrating motion or image as produced by reflecting faint light or heat waves.
verb
noun
Related Words
See glisten.
Other Word Forms
- shimmering adjective
- shimmeringly adverb
- unshimmering adjective
- unshimmeringly adverb
Etymology
Origin of shimmer
First recorded before 1100; Middle English schimeren, s(c)hemeren, Old English scimrian; cognate with Dutch schemeren, German schimmern “to glisten”
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.
A veritable feast for the ears that shimmers with sound — a stray guitar flourish here, a pulsing synthesizer there.
From Salon
The composer Carl Friedrich Abel, a beloved friend of the artist, is shown in a shimmering gold waistcoat that reveals nothing of his financial troubles.
At the top of the cliff a thin mist came from Patrick’s Well; beyond that the sea was a shimmer of silver.
From Literature
The car slowed as Grandma turned onto an old farm road, the fields on either side blanketed in shimmering white.
From Literature
The room darkened again and the screen shimmered, zooming in on an image of me sitting in my blue dress.
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.
