shimmer

CEFRC2

/ˈʃɪm.ə(ɹ)/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To shine with a soft, wavering light.

  2. 02

    noun

    A soft, wavering light.

Examples

  • The heat haze made the road shimmer in the distance.

  • The ocean waves shimmer in the sunlight.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. A faint or veiled and tremulous gleam or shining.

  2. Of a mass of bees: to move their abdomens in a coordinated manner so as to produce a shimmering wave effect, thought to deter predators.

  3. To shine tremulously or intermittently; to gleam faintly.

More examples

In context

  • 1581, John Studley (translator), Medea, Act 4, in Seneca his Tenne Tragedies, London: Thomas Marsh, p. 135, With dusky shimmering wanny globe, her lampe doth pale appeare

  • The shimmering glimpses of a stream

  • I looked then and saw that his robes, which had seemed white, were not so, but were woven of all colours, and if he moved they shimmered and changed hue so that the eye was bewildered.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The calm water on the lake would blank under the soft moonlight.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English schimeren, from Old English sċymrian, sċimrian, sċimerian, from Proto-Germanic *skimarōną. Cognate with Dutch schemeren, German schimmern.