lustrous

L1U1S1T1R1O1U1S1
US/ˈlʌ.stɹəs/

adjective

Having a glow or lustre.

Less commonScrabble 8

Meanings

adjectivelustrous (comparative more lustrous, superlative most lustrous)

comparative more lustrous · superlative most lustrous

  1. Having a glow or lustre.

    It was a hot noon in July; and his face, lustrous with perspiration, beamed with barbaric good humor.

    1924, Herman Melville, chapter 1, in Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co.
    5 more examples

    Why it hath bay windows transparent as barricadoes, and the clearstores toward the south north are as lustrous as ebony; and yet complainest thou of obstruction?

    c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]

    There was not a cloud on the sky, save a few light vapours that congregated near the moon; but even they were lustrous with her presence.

    1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “An Evening Alone”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 304

    1892, Walt Whitman, "Gods" in Leaves of Grass (abridged reprint of the 1892 edition), New York: The Modern Library, 1921, p. 232, https://archive.org/details/leavesofgrass00whit Or Time and Space, Or shape of Earth divine and wondrous, Or some fair shape I viewing, worship, Or lustrous orb of sun or star by night, Be ye my Gods.

    The wild warblers are warbling in the jungle Of life and spring and of the lustrous inundations, Flood on flood, of our returning sun.

    1936, Wallace Stevens, “Meditation Celestial & Terrestrial”, in The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, published 1971, page 123

    The sunlight lay heavy and rich on his lustrous golden fur, and his monkey hands turned a pine cone this way and that, snapping off the scales with sharp fingers and scratching out the sweet nuts.

    2000, Philip Pullman, chapter 1, in The Amber Spyglass, Random House Children's Books, published 2001
  2. As if shining with a brilliant light; radiant.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivemade smooth and bright by or as if by rubbing; reflecting a sheen or glow

adjectivebrilliant

Similar

adjectivereflecting light

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Englishlustre
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₃ed-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₃édosder.?
  4. Englishlustrous

From lustre + -ous.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian блестящ, сияещ
  • блестящ (blestjašt)having a glow or lustre
  • сияещ (sijaešt)having a glow or lustre
Catalan llustrós
  • llustróshaving a glow or lustre
Chinese Mandarin 閃亮 /闪亮, 光彩
  • 閃亮 /闪亮 (shǎnliàng)having a glow or lustre
  • 光彩 (guāngcǎi)having a glow or lustre
Czech zářivý, lesklý
  • zářivýhaving a glow or lustre
  • lesklýhaving a glow or lustre
Danish glansfuld
  • glansfuldhaving a glow or lustre
Dutch glanzend
  • glanzendhaving a glow or lustre
Finnish loistava, hohtava
  • loistavahaving a glow or lustre
  • hohtavahaving a glow or lustre
  • kiiltävähaving a glow or lustre
French lustré, brillant
  • lustréhaving a glow or lustre
  • brillanthaving a glow or lustre
German glänzend
  • glänzendhaving a glow or lustre
Hindi चमकीला
  • चमकीला (camkīlā)having a glow or lustre
Hungarian fénylő, ragyogó
  • fénylőhaving a glow or lustre
  • ragyogóhaving a glow or lustre
Irish lonrach
  • lonrachhaving a glow or lustre
Russian блестящий
  • блестящий (blestjaščij)having a glow or lustre
Spanish lustroso
  • lustrosohaving a glow or lustre
Swedish glänsande
  • glänsandehaving a glow or lustre
Turkish ışık saçan; parlak
  • ışık saçan; parlakhaving a glow or lustre
Ukrainian блискучий
  • блискучий (blyskučyj)having a glow or lustre
Welsh gloyw, llewy(r)chus
  • gloywhaving a glow or lustre
  • llewy(r)chushaving a glow or lustre
Cite this entry
APA

lustrous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lustrous

MLA

“lustrous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lustrous. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lustrous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lustrous.

Source: lustrous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.