Splendor Meaning
/ˈsplɛndə/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounGreat light, luster or brilliance.
nounMagnificent appearance, display or grandeur.
Sentence Examples
Can you imagine Babel's splendor?
The palace was built in great splendor.
We were amazed by the splendor of the scenery.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Visitors marveled at the ____ of the cathedral's golden altar and stained glass.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The tourists were amazed by the architectural ____ of the ancient palace and its many golden statues.
Word Origin & History
From Anglo-Norman splendur, splendour, or directly from its source Latin splendor, from the verb splendeō (“to shine”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"What tho’ the moon—the white moon
Shed all the splendour of her noon,
Her smile is chilly—and her beam,
In that time of dreariness, will seem
(So like you gather in your breath)
A portrait taken after death."
— 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:
"Once upon a time on an uninhabited island on the shores of the Red Sea, there lived a Parsee from whose hat the rays of the sun were reflected in more-than-oriental-splendour."
— 1902, Rudyard Kipling, “How the Rhinoceros got its skin”, in Just So Stories:
"The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Visitors marveled at the ____ of the cathedral's golden altar and stained glass.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The tourists were amazed by the architectural ____ of the ancient palace and its many golden statues.