Meanings
nounchandelier (plural chandeliers)
plural chandeliers
- A branched, often ornate, light fixture suspended from a ceiling.
She opened the drawing-room door in trepidation. Would she find Esther drowned with her head in the goldfish bowl, or hanged from the chandelier by her stay-lace?
1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, chapter VII, in A House Is Built, section vi- specificallyoriginallyOne lit by candles.
- attributiveoftenauctionA fictional bidder used to increase the price at an auction.
The bids are usually real but can be fake or ‘chandelier’ bids (non-existing bids taken ‘off the chandelier’) on behalf of the consignor, or bids left with the auctioneer in advance.
2010, Don Thompson, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark, Aurum Press Limited, →ISBN1 more example
2007, Frank Pope, "Dragon Sea: a true tale of treasure, archeology, and greed off the coast of Vietnam", Harcourt Books, p. 306. A mysterious phone bidder was grabbing the pieces that no one else wanted—Mensun suspected this was the auction house "bidding against the chandelier," protecting itself against selling too low.
Synonyms: wall
- medicineAn endoilluminator used in eye surgery.
- obsoletegovernmentA portable frame used to support temporary wooden fences.
Chandelier. A wooden frame, whereon are laid fascines or faggots, to cover the workmen in making approaches.
[1747, James Boswell, The Scots Book, volume IX, page 371 more example
Europeans solved this problem by building a temporary fence with tightly bound sticks ("fascines") stacked into wooden frames ("chandeliers").
1994, Todd A. Shallat, Structures in the Stream: Water, Science, and the Rise of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, University of Texas Press, page 32
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA fictional bidder used to increase the price at an auction.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nounbranched lighting fixture; often ornate; hangs from the ceiling
Broader
lighting fixture
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latincandelabrum
- Frenchchandelier
- Englishchandelier
Borrowed from French chandelier, from Latin candelabrum, from candela (“a candle”). Doublet of candelabrum. See also candle.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic ثُرَيَّا, نَجَفَة
- ثُرَيَّا (ṯurayyā)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- نَجَفَة (najafa)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Basque argi-armiarma
- argi-armiarmabranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Bengali ঝাড়বাতি
- ঝাড়বাতি (jhaṛbati)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Bulgarian полиле́й
- полиле́й (poliléj)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Catalan aranya
- aranyabranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Chinese Cantonese 吊燈 /吊灯
- 吊燈 /吊灯branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Chinese Mandarin 吊燈 /吊灯
- 吊燈 /吊灯 (diàodēng)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Czech lustr
- lustrbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Danish lysekrone
- lysekronebranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Dutch kroonluchter, luster
- kroonluchterbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- lusterbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Esperanto lustro
- lustrobranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Estonian kroonlühter, lühter
- kroonlühterbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- lühterbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Finnish kattokruunu
- kattokruunubranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
French lustre
- lustrebranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
German Kronleuchter, Lüster
- Kronleuchterbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- Lüsterbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- Lusterbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Greek πολυέλαιος
- πολυέλαιος (polyélaios)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Hebrew נִבְרֶשֶׁת
- נִבְרֶשֶׁת (nivréshet)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Hindi झाड़, झाड़-फ़ानूस
- झाड़ (jhāṛ)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- झाड़-फ़ानूस (jhāṛ-fānūs)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- झूमर (jhūmar)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Hungarian csillár
- csillárbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Icelandic ljósakróna
- ljósakrónabranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Indonesian kandelir
- kandelirbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Irish crann solais, coinnleoir craobhach
- crann solaisbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- coinnleoir craobhachbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Italian lampadario
- lampadariobranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Japanese シャンデリア
- シャンデリア (shanderia)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Korean 샹들리에
- 샹들리에 (syangdeullie)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Latvian lustra
- lustrabranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Lithuanian sietynas, liustra
- sietynasbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- liustrabranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Malay candelier, kandil
- candelierbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- kandilbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Norwegian Bokmål lysekrone
- lysekronebranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Persian لوستِر, نورافشان
- لوستِر (luster)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- نورافشان (nurâfšân)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- قَندیل (qandil)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Polish żyrandol
- żyrandolbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Portuguese lustre
- lustrebranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Romanian candelabru, lustră
- candelabrubranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- lustrăbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Russian лю́стра
- лю́стра (ljústra)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Slovak luster
- lusterbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Spanish araña de luces, lámpara de araña
- araña de lucesbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- lámpara de arañabranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- candilbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Swahili thurea
- thureabranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Swedish ljuskrona, takkrona
- ljuskronabranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- takkronabranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- kristallkronabranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Tagalog aranya
- aranyabranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Thai โคมระย้า
- โคมระย้า (koom-rá-yáa)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Turkish avize, şandölye
- avizebranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- şandölyebranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Ukrainian лю́стра, жирандо́ль
- лю́стра (ljústra)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- жирандо́ль (žyrandólʹ)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Urdu جھاڑ, فانوس
- جھاڑ (jhāṛ)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- فانوس (fānūs)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Vietnamese đèn treo, đèn chùm
- đèn treobranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- đèn chùmbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Welsh canhwyllyr, siandelïer
- canhwyllyrbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- siandelïerbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- siandelïersbranched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Yiddish בליצלאָמפּ, לוסטרע
- בליצלאָמפּ (blitslomp)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- לוסטרע (lustre)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- שאַנדאָליער (shandolyer)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- שענדעליר (shendelir)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- זשיראַנדאָל (zhirandol)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
- הענגלײַכטער (henglaykhter)branched, often ornate, lighting fixture suspended from the ceiling
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with chandelier
hereyearclearnearcareerheargearappearwearfearvolunteermirrorpremierdearbeerseverepeerearpioneerPierredeermeretiersheer
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
chandelier. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chandelier
MLA
“chandelier.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chandelier. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chandelier,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chandelier.
Source: chandelier on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.