Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To exhibit an iridescent shimmer of colors.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To give forth a play of colors like the opal; exhibit opalescence.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To give forth a play of colors, like the opal.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To be opalescent; to give forth a play of colours, like the opal.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb reflect light or colors like an opal
  • verb exhibit a play of colors like that of an opal

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Back-formation from opalescence.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word opalesce.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • From the OED:

    (v. intr.)

    To exhibit iridescence like that of precious opal. Also fig.

    1870 J. SMITH Chris & Otho 16

    You do opalesce with every passing moment. You are red, fiery--green, jealous--yellow, suspicious.

    June 29, 2007