Skip to main content
iridescence

iridescence

1 8.3
A shiny display of colors that change when you look at them from different angles
  • noun
  • /ˌɪrəˈdɛsəns/
translation icon : iridiscencia
  • The artist used a paint that has an iridescence to create a shimmering effect on the canvas.
  • iridescence in butterflies
  • iridescence, like the rainbow
  • hint of iridescence

It has a marbling through it, so you get kind of like a gold iridescence, but kind of like a champagne.

Examples

  • Full sun allows better shutter speed and is needed for the iridescence of some bird feathers to show the best coloration, but it can result in harsh lighting on the subject.

    Academic text (2010)
  • A small iridescence glides over the water, as though it has always been there.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Are you seeing the iridescence on this coral gloss?

  • A form with iridescence, like the rainbow shiver of oil on water.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • But in that sunset, my hands seemed to have been dipped in some sort of iridescence.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • It has a marbling through it, so you get kind of like a gold iridescence, but kind of like a champagne.

  • When they reached the sunlight streaming through the west windows, their fawn fur glistened with iridescence, and their dark brown masks framed brilliant blue eyes.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I now see Detroit with a new shimmering iridescence, not for what it might be in the future, but for the insight I've gained into what is already happening.

    Blog text (32)
  • Blackbird with a sharp, yellow beak, enfolding a pale, blond man in the iridescence of her wings.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The butterfly's wings displayed a stunning iridescence that shifted colors in the sunlight.

Synonyms

opalescence
vsiridescence
9.4

A soft milky shine that shows changing colors

is brighter and rainbow-like, changing colors sharply with viewing angle

How Lustrous

iridescence
1 8.3
shimmer
17 4.4
to gleam
70 1.9
glint
20 2.9

Surface Forms

iridescence singular
iridescences plural

Morphology

iridescence = iridescent (semi-transparent) = irid + escent + ence

The noun is formed regularly from the adjective 'iridescent' by adding '-ence', so the relationship is straightforward if the base adjective is known.

Etymology

Iridescence comes from the Greek word iris, which means 'rainbow', and is the same root as the English iris, the flower and the coloured part of the eye. So, when something has iridescence, it shines with changing rainbow colours as you move around it.