Skip to main content
opal

opal

14 5.1
A shiny stone that shows bright flashes of colour and is used in jewellery
  • noun
  • /ˈoʊpəl/
translation icon : ópalo
  • The jeweler showed me a stunning opal with vibrant flashes of color.
  • opal ring
  • fire opal

So you have to wear these, these masks anyway, mining for opals is they call it prospect mining.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • The tiny, mesmerizing percentage we call precious opals have regions where silica beads of uniform size form orderly arrays.

  • When Sonny gave her an opal ring for her birthday, all she could do was sit down and cry.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • l gave somebody a fire opal once.

  • The brothers also note, "The opal did not appear to be a fake, wrapped up to fool rich society women."

    Academic text (2017)
  • His hand is warm, and I can almost feel the opal rings pressing into my own palm.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Belecebu's opal has been passed down to me through my ancestors.

    Academic text (2007)
  • But Mom, who seems suddenly frailer, is wearing her mother's cloudy opal ring.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • These are opals.

  • Opals are unlucky, aren't they?

  • From a dark corner, Lirrel stared silently at Jobber, the opal-colored eyes gleaming an eerie white in the shadowy room.

    Fiction book (1991)

Synonyms

fire opal
vsopal
  • Specialized
7.7

A gem with bright orange, yellow and red colors

is a general translucent gemstone that often displays a wider range of colors
girasol
vsopal
  • Specialized
9.9

A gem that shows bright orange, yellow and red colors

is the broader hydrated silica mineral often showing many different colors

Compounds

1 7.2

A dark opal that shows bright flashes of green, red, or other colors

fire opal
  • Specialized
7.7

A gem with bright orange, yellow and red colors

harlequin opal
  • Specialized
9.9

A gem with a red base and small bright patches of many colors

A milky white glass that lets light through and is used for lamps and vases

How Dark

black opal
1 7.2
opal
14 5.1

Surface Forms

opal singular
opals plural

Etymology

Opal comes from an old Sanskrit word upala meaning 'precious stone'. So the name always meant a valued gem, which fits an opal today because it shows bright, changing flashes of color.