Luster Meaning
/ˈlʌstɚ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe ability or condition of shining with reflected light; sheen, gleam, gloss, sparkle, shine, etc.
nounThe ability or condition of shining with reflected light; sheen, gleam, gloss, sparkle, shine, etc., The way in which the surface of any particular type of mineral reflects light differently from other minerals, which is helpful in telling minerals apart.
Sentence Examples
This ring lost its luster.
Our cat's fur has lost its luster.
Setting a new record added luster to his name.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The polish brought back the ____ of the old wooden table, making it shine.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The diamond had a brilliant ____ that caught the light and sparkled beautifully in the sun today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French lustre, from Old Italian lustro, from Old Italian lustrare (“brighten”), from Latin lūstrō (“to purify, to brighten”), from Latin lūstrum (“purification ritual”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And over all the fields themselves did muster,
With bils and glayves making a dreadfull luster;
That forst at first those knights backe to retyre:
As when the wrathfull Boreas doth bluster,
Nought may abide the tempest of his yre,
Both man and beast doe fly, and succour doe inquyre."
— 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
"First Servant: O, I am slain! My lord, you have one eye left
To see some mischief on him. O! [Dies]
Cornwall: Lest it see more, prevent it. Out, vile jelly!
Where is thy lustre now?
Gloucester: All dark and comfortless."
— c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vii]:
"Daughters of Beulah! Muses who inspire the Poet’s Song!
Record the journey of immortal Milton through your realms
Of terror & mild moony lustre, in soft sexual delusions
Of varied beauty, to delight the wanderer and repose
His burning thirst & freezing hunger! […]"
— 1810, William Blake, Milton: A Poem in Two Books, Book I, 1-5:
"The canopy above the bed was a mosaic of tiny stones, jet, serpentine, dark hyacinth, black marble, bloodstone, and lapis lazuli, so confounded in a maze of altering hue and lustre that they might mock the palpitating sky of night."
— 1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, chapter 8, in The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC:
"By the luster or glance of a mineral is meant the quantity and quality of light reflected by it, as determined by the character or minute structure of its surface. […] The two principal kinds of luster are the metallic and non-metallic. […] The adamantine luster is intermediate between the metallic and non-metallic lusters. […] The vitreous is the luster of glass, and of all minerals similar to glass in appearance, such as quartz, calcite, etc. The resinous luster is seen in resins, of which the native mineral copalite is an example; it is also well exhibited in sulphur and sphalerite. The pearly luster, i.e., the luster of pearl, is well shown only in minerals having a foliated or scaly structure, in other words, very perfect cleavage in one direction, such as talc, mica, and gypsum. The silky or satiny luster, like the pearly, is determined by the structure, being observed only in finely fibrous minerals. […] The greasy and waxy lusters are most common in certain amorphous minerals, such as serpentine."
— 1895, William Otis Crosby, Tables for the Determination of Common Minerals Chiefly by Their Physical Properties: With Confirmatory Chemical Tests, page 11:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The polish brought back the ____ of the old wooden table, making it shine.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The diamond had a brilliant ____ that caught the light and sparkled beautifully in the sun today.