pellucid
Americanadjective
-
allowing the maximum passage of light, as glass; translucent
- Antonyms:
- opaque
-
pellucid waters.
- Synonyms:
- transparent
- Antonyms:
- opaque
-
clear in meaning, expression, or style.
a pellucid way of writing.
- Antonyms:
- obscure
adjective
-
transparent or translucent
-
extremely clear in style and meaning; limpid
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pellucid
First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin pellūcidus, variant of perlūcidus “transparent, radiant”; see origin at per-, lucid
Explanation
A sentence that teaches a new vocabulary word should always be pellucid, that is, its style and meaning should be easily understandable so that you can derive the definition from the sentence. You may have heard the word lucid, which means clear. Both lucid and pellucid derive from a Latin word that means "to shine through." Pellucid water is clear, a pellucid sky is a particularly intense shade of blue, pellucid prose is writing that's easy to understand, and pellucid singing is clear and light in tone.
Vocabulary lists containing pellucid
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Let There Be Light: Lum and Luc
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300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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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.
George Balanchine’s pellucid “Mozartiana” was the first work to follow “Othello” in the run.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
A reviewer in The Guardian called it “an eloquent, pellucid, sometimes poignant study of five female intellectuals, each of whom disdained convention to fulfill their potential as thinkers and writers.”
From Seattle Times ● May 6, 2021
Developing the lo-fi blues of his early work and pre-empting Sea Change’s pellucid studies of a wrecked relationship, Beck’s wallowing is given an almost mystical edge by Indian drones and sitar tolling underneath it.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 2, 2020
If you are missing cocktail bars, New York City before the shutdown or simply pellucid and startlingly intelligent poetry, “Three Poems” is a book for you.
From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2020
Her lashes, he recalled, were golden red, her eyes pellucid blue.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
