Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To throw off sparks; flash.
- v. To sparkle or shine. See Synonyms at flash.
- v. To be animated and brilliant: dinner conversation that scintillated.
- v. To give off (sparks or flashes).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To emit sparks; hence, to sparkle or twinkle, as the fixed stars.
- Synonyms Sparkle, Glister, etc. (see glare, intransitive verb) coruscate.
Wiktionary
- v. To give off sparks; to shine as if emanating sparks; to twinkle or glow.
- v. To throw off like sparks.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To emit sparks, or fine igneous particles.
- v. To sparkle, as the fixed stars.
WordNet 3.0
- v. physics: fluoresce momentarily when struck by a charged particle or high-energy photon
- v. reflect brightly
- v. be lively or brilliant or exhibit virtuosity
- v. give off
- v. emit or reflect light in a flickering manner
Etymologies
- Latin scintillāre, scintillāt-, from scintilla, spark.
Examples
“I know he fails to scintillate and he does seem to be around more and more often but they don't need to be so outwardly mean and I told them so.”
“A small, circular wave emanating from a central point. scintillate”
“You could say he's a shining example, except le Carré's point is that while Smiley's powers scintillate, he's practically a cipher when he's not putting those talents to work.”
“Robert Green's handling error aside, they would not have shipped at all in Group C. Slovenia, of course, did not scintillate often as an attacking force but when they did threaten, Terry made an impression.”
The Guardian: World Cup 2010: John Terry back at the heart of England's hopes
“What has mattered in Hodgkin's art, and still does, is not simply a brilliant way with colour, although it would be hard to find many painters of the past 100 years who could out-scintillate a work such as that bedroompicture, with its chromatic suggestion of coals glowing in a blackened grate.”
The Guardian: Howard Hodgkin - the last English romantic painter
“He does occasionally handcuff me (if such things scintillate you) to his life-sized, diapered replica of Roman Polanski, though.”
“As the Bang on a Can All-Stars 'all-Reich program Thursday at Strathmore amply demonstrated, the composer's musical means may be minimal -- layering simple lines of rhythm, shifting a repeated fragment of melody out of phase with itself, varying the color of a relentlessly hammered chord by spotlighting individual instruments -- but the resulting textures bubble and scintillate with an engagingly "maximalist" energy.”
The Washington Post: Music review of Bang on a Can All-Stars at Strathmore Hall
“If zinc sulfide were added to the mix at the dry gel stage, the resultant glassy substance should scintillate with the radiation of the waste.”
“Try my Mango-Raspberry thickshake to invigorate your senses, scintillate your taste buds and relive your childhood!”
“The indian-italian fusion was an instant hit with elders and kids alike....lo and behold, as I share my grilled veg burger recipe with you which is sure to scintillate your taste buds.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘scintillate’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Star Verbs
seanahan That's pretty funny oroboros. Dec 29, 2006
oroboros "sin till late" Dec 28, 2006
quaxanta Scintillate, scintillate, globule lucific.
Fain would I fathom thy nature specific.
(a more, ahem, wordy version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) Dec 6, 2006