radiant

comparative more radiant · superlative most radiant · alternative obsolete radient

1. Radiating light and/or heat.

   the radiant sun

   2 more examples

   They in ranks / Sat all, where ſtood the fiery ſteeds of each, / And where his radiant arms lay on the field.

   1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book III.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 79

   The couple's sustainability efforts also included installing radiant heat under the concrete-slab floor.

   2026 May 28, Julie Belcove, “Farm Fresh”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 93

2. Emitted as radiation.
3. figurativelyBeaming with vivacity and happiness.

   a radiant face

   2 more examples

   His sister, Mrs. Gerard, stood there in carriage gown and sables, radiant with surprise. ¶ “Phil ! You ! Exactly like you, Philip, to come strolling in from the antipodes—dear fellow !” recovering from the fraternal embrace and holding both lapels of his coat in her gloved hands.

   1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC

   Nurse Cramer had a cute nose and a radiant, blooming complexion dotted with fetching sprays of adorable freckles that Yossarian detested.

   1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 171

4. figurativelyStrikingly beautiful.

   And yet she was ensnaringly beautiful, despite her pride and self-consciousness; radiant and certain of conquest she stood before the man who alone seemed to have neither eye nor ear for charms that had never elsewhere played her false.

   1893, E. Werner, Clear the Track!, page 94

5. Emitting or proceeding as if from a center.
6. governmentGiving off rays.

   the sun radiant

   1 more example

   a crown radiant

7. biologyHaving a ray-like appearance, like the large marginal flowers of certain umbelliferous plants; said also of the cluster which has such marginal flowers.

plural radiants · alternative obsolete radient

1. A point source from which radiation is emitted.
2. astronomyThe apparent origin, in the night sky, of a meteor shower.
3. geometryA straight line proceeding from a given point, or fixed pole, about which it is conceived to revolve.