burnish
- noun
- /ˈbɜrnɪʃ/
:
brillo
- The wood had a lovely burnish, giving it a smooth and shiny appearance.
Examples
-
The artist admired the burnish on the surface of the sculpture, highlighting its intricate details.
-
We go from the copper burnish model all the way down to the pine box, the ol' pine box.
-
The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, burn'd on the water:
-
Her face, rather like a potato to begin with, could look acceptable when gilded with a good moisturizer, a transparent foundation, and a burnish of Guerlain bronzing powder.
Fiction book (1994) -
I sometimes tell graduate students, when in doubt, to share their written work with someone of good sense—someone capable of saying no when nonsense is talked, and capable of recognizing a subtlety that does not coat itself with the burnish of jargon.
Academic text (1996) -
After polishing the silver, it regained its bright burnish that had faded over time.
Synonyms
48
4.2
A soft, smooth shine on a surface that looks healthy or attractive
43
3.7
A smooth shiny coating on food or pottery
24
3.8
A smooth shiny appearance on a surface
7
4.3
A shiny, gently glowing look on a surface like metal or porcelain
7
3.7
The state of being smooth and shiny
1
3.3
An even, flat surface that has no rough or bumpy parts
1
4.1
A smooth, shiny surface that reflects light
1
2.0
How bright and smooth a surface is when it sends back light
A very shiny smooth surface that reflects light brightly
Antonyms
How Shiny
Surface Forms
Etymology
Burnish comes from the same old French root brunir 'to make brown', similar to the English word brown. Think of the warm, shiny brown of polished metal or wood after careful rubbing. A burnish is the smooth, shiny surface you get from that rubbing.