Luminous Meaning
/ˈluːmɪnəs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjEmitting light; glowing brightly; shining.
adjBrightly illuminated.
Sentence Examples
They all agreed that it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral.
Tom wants to paint the windowsills with luminous paint.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The watch had a ____ dial that made it easy to read in the dark room at night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The watch has ____ hands that glow in the dark, making it very easy to tell the time at night.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Middle French lumineus, from Latin lūminōsus.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The moon, which had been slowly ascending, now shone through an open space between the trees; and the rippling waters of the brook gave back her light in luminous vibrations."
— 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 21:
"The bonfire in his heart made luminous the rose-tan in his cheek."
— 1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter [HTTP://GUTENBERG.NET.AU/EBOOKS06/0608511H.HTML CHAPTER 11].”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC:
"When approaching the Laughead household, she claimed to have previously met Charles Laughead and to recently have experienced a mystical dream in which a mysterious, luminous man rescued her from a flood (Williams 1954)."
— 2025 November 4, Thomas Kelly, “Debunking “When Prophecy Fails””, in Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, volume 62, number 1, →DOI, →ISSN, page 3:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The watch had a ____ dial that made it easy to read in the dark room at night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The watch has ____ hands that glow in the dark, making it very easy to tell the time at night.