Meanings
plural effulgences · alternative affulgence
- countableuncountableA state of being bright and radiant, splendor, brilliance.
He stood for a moment taking in the effulgence.
1875 January–December, Henry James, “Switzerland”, in Roderick Hudson (The Novels and Tales of Henry James; I), New York edition, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1907, →OCLC, page 4573 more examples
[…] the clear effulgence of the stars by night […]
1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter XII, in The Last Man. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLCEnough then, that I not only recognised my natural body from the mere aura and effulgence of certain of the powers that made up my spirit, […].
1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLCThese jewels, drinking in the sunshine by day, gave it forth during the hours of darkness in a radiance of pink light and a soft effulgence as of moonbeams.
1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 3
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe quality of being bright and sending out rays of light
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Esperanto brilegeco
- brilegecostate of being bright and radiant
German Glanz
- Glanzstate of being bright and radiant
Cite this entry
effulgence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effulgence
“effulgence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effulgence. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “effulgence,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effulgence.
Source: effulgence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.