sparkle
- to issue in or as if in little sparks, as fire or light: The candlelight sparkled in the crystal.
- to emit little sparks, as burning matter: The flames leaped and sparkled.
- to shine or glisten with little gleams of light, as a brilliant gem; glitter; coruscate.
- to effervesce, as wine.
- to be brilliant, lively, or vivacious.
- to cause to sparkle: moonlight sparkling the water; pleasure sparkling her eyes.
- a little spark or fiery particle.
- a sparkling appearance, luster, or play of light: the sparkle of a diamond.
- brilliance, liveliness, or vivacity.
Origin of sparkle
Synonyms for sparkle
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words for sparkle
radiance, twinkle, gleam, vitality, glint, glimmer, glitz, glow, glisten, flicker, shimmer, wink, scintillate, dash, life, zip, panache, show, flash, gaietyExamples from the Web for sparkle
Contemporary Examples of sparkle
Sitting in that plastic pitcher, she said, the water seemed to sparkle.
Travelers are in danger of losing the “sparkle in their eyes” if they know too much in advance.
But he took the “sparkle” just before driving Shrimpton down a narrow winding mountain road.
Speed Read: 11 Juiciest Bits From Philip Norman’s Biography of Mick JaggerThe Daily Beast
October 1, 2012
And with a fine dose of ribbon embroidery and a bit of sparkle, grunge was dressed up enough for a grownup.
Watch the “Queen of Disco” shake and sparkle in this soulful rendition of the song.
Historical Examples of sparkle
There was no sparkle of any kind on the lazy stream of his life.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
The color came into her cheeks at the memory, and a sparkle into her eyes.
Good IndianB. M. Bower
The glasses over his eyes seemed to sparkle as if with fire.
Jennie Baxter, JournalistRobert Barr
Athens,—except for that sparkle,—thy name, I had moldered to ash!
Graded Poetry: Second YearVarious
The fliers hung aimless overhead, no sparkle to their hulls.
Slaves of MercuryNat Schachner
sparkle
- to issue or reflect or cause to issue or reflect bright points of light
- (intr) (of wine, mineral water, etc) to effervesce
- (intr) to be vivacious or witty
- a point of light, spark, or gleam
- vivacity or wit
Word Origin for sparkle
Word Origin and History for sparkle
c.1200, frequentative verb form of Middle English sparke (see spark). Of wines, from early 15c. Related: Sparkled; sparkling.
early 14c., from sparkle (v.).