Lustrous Meaning
/ˈlʌ.stɹəs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjHaving a glow or lustre.
adjAs if shining with a brilliant light; radiant.
Sentence Examples
The crown is adorned with dozens of divinely lustrous gemstones.
I was captivated by his lustrous hair, glistening in the sunset.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her ____ hair shone brightly in the warm sunlight.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She had long and ____ black hair that flowed down her back and shone in the bright light tonight.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English lustre Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ōtsos or *-otsos Latin -ōsus Old French -usbor. Middle English -ous English -ous English lustrous From lustre + -ous.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Why it hath bay windows transparent as barricadoes, and the clearstores toward the south north are as lustrous as ebony; and yet complainest thou of obstruction?"
— c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
"There was not a cloud on the sky, save a few light vapours that congregated near the moon; but even they were lustrous with her presence."
— 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “An Evening Alone”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 304:
"It was a hot noon in July; and his face, lustrous with perspiration, beamed with barbaric good humor."
— 1924, Herman Melville, chapter 1, in Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co.:
"The wild warblers are warbling in the jungle
Of life and spring and of the lustrous inundations,
Flood on flood, of our returning sun."
— 1936, Wallace Stevens, “Meditation Celestial & Terrestrial”, in The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, published 1971, page 123:
"The sunlight lay heavy and rich on his lustrous golden fur, and his monkey hands turned a pine cone this way and that, snapping off the scales with sharp fingers and scratching out the sweet nuts."
— 2000, Philip Pullman, chapter 1, in The Amber Spyglass, Random House Children's Books, published 2001:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her ____ hair shone brightly in the warm sunlight.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She had long and ____ black hair that flowed down her back and shone in the bright light tonight.