incandescent

[in-kuhn-des-uhnt]

adjective

1. (of light) produced by incandescence.

2. glowing or white with heat.

3. intensely bright; brilliant.

4. brilliant; masterly; extraordinarily lucid.

   an incandescent masterpiece; incandescent wit.

5. aglow with ardor, purpose, etc..

   the incandescent vitality of youth.

   Synonyms: dynamic, brilliant

incandescent

/ ˌɪnkænˈdɛsənt /

adjective

1. emitting light as a result of being heated to a high temperature; red-hot or white-hot

2. informal,  extremely angry; raging

Other Word Forms

• incandescently adverb
• nonincandescent adjective
• nonincandescently adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of incandescent¹

1785–95; < Latin incandēscent- (stem of incandēscēns ), present participle of incandēscere to glow. See in- ², candescent

Word History and Origins

Origin of incandescent¹

C18: from Latin incandescere to become hot, glow, from _in- ² + candescere to grow bright, from candēre to be white; see _candid

Example Sentences

Sturgeon says Salmond "showed little interest in the detail" of the document and she was "incandescent" when he flew to China shortly before publication without having read it.

From BBC

Shimmering in the incandescent light off the Pacific, its existence today seems almost a mirage, a dream from long ago on the verge of waking up to its inherent vulnerabilities.

From Los Angeles Times

The fair’s chief architect, Daniel Hudson Burnham, created a wildly expensive campus of Beaux Arts white buildings, brought in designers including Frederick Law Olmsted, and wowed millions with a large-scale incandescent light display.

From Los Angeles Times

There are large mounds of California buckwheat, tall spires of sweet hummingbird sage and incandescently purple clusters of showy penstemon.

From Los Angeles Times

Trump is incandescent about the EU's massive trade surplus.

From BBC

Related Words

• luminous 
• radiant 
• shining