Shimmer Meaning
/ˈʃɪm.ə(ɹ)/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo shine tremulously or intermittently; to gleam faintly.
verbOf a mass of bees: to move their abdomens in a coordinated manner so as to produce a shimmering wave effect, thought to deter predators.
Sentence Examples
The ocean waves shimmer in the sunlight.
The heat haze made the road shimmer in the distance.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The calm water on the lake would ____ under the soft moonlight.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We watched the moonlight ____ across the calm surface of the lake during our midnight walk.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English schimeren, from Old English sċymrian, sċimrian, sċimerian, from Proto-Germanic *skimarōną. Cognate with Dutch schemeren, German schimmern.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The shimmering glimpses of a stream"
— 1850, Alfred Tennyson, The Princess: A Medley, 3rd edition, London: Edward Moxon, Conclusion, p. 173:
"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."
— 1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1973, Book 2, Chapter 2, p. 339:
"Pale tourists, tired but excited, emerge like apparitions from the heat haze that shimmers over the tarmac."
— 2018, Tsitsi Dangarembga, chapter 22, in This Mournable Body, Minneapolis: Graywolf Press:
"I shut the closet, to conceal the strange, wraith-like apparel it contained; which, at this evening hour—nine o’clock—gave out certainly a most ghostly shimmer through the shadow of my apartment."
— 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter X, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 254:
"The hives […] were scattered towards the back of the clearing, like small mounds of clean vegetable refuse. Over each mound there hung a dusty golden shimmer of bees."
— 1922, Katherine Anne Porter, “María Concepción”, in Flowering Judas and Other Stories, New York: The Modern Library, published 1940, page 6:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The calm water on the lake would ____ under the soft moonlight.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We watched the moonlight ____ across the calm surface of the lake during our midnight walk.