radiant
Americanadjective
-
emitting rays of light; shining; bright.
the radiant sun;
radiant colors.
- Synonyms:
- resplendent, refulgent, beaming
- Antonyms:
- dim
-
bright with joy, hope, etc..
radiant smiles;
a radiant future.
-
Physics. emitted or propagated by radiation.
-
Heraldry.
-
noting a partition line having a series of flamelike indentations formed by ogees joined in zigzags; rayonny.
-
(of a charge, as an ordinary) having an edge or edges so formed.
-
adjective
-
sending out rays of light; bright; shining
-
characterized by health, intense joy, happiness, etc
a radiant countenance
-
emitted or propagated by or as radiation; radiated
radiant heat
-
sending out heat by radiation
a radiant heater
-
physics (of a physical quantity in photometry) evaluated by absolute energy measurements Compare luminous
radiant flux
radiant efficiency
noun
-
a point or object that emits radiation, esp the part of a heater that gives out heat
-
astronomy the point in space from which a meteor shower appears to emanate
-
Transmitting light, heat, or other radiation. Stars, for example, are radiant bodies.
-
Consisting of or transmitted as radiation.
-
The apparent celestial origin of a meteor shower. For example, a point in the constellation Gemini is the radiant of the Geminid meteor shower.
Related Words
See bright.
Other Word Forms
- antiradiant adjective
- nonradiant adjective
- nonradiantly adverb
- radiantly adverb
- superradiant adjective
- unradiant adjective
Etymology
Origin of radiant
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin radiant-, stem of radiāns “shining,” present participle of radiāre “to radiate light, shine,” verb derivative of radius “beam, ray”; radius
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Our mother was an incredible woman—a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend,” they said.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 17, 2026
The result is neither winter nor spring, but something that holds both: earthy, sweet, quietly radiant.
From Salon • Mar. 1, 2026
Ahead of the ceremony, she warmed Manchester up with a radiant, candlelit charity gig at the city's Albert Hall venue on Thursday.
From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026
Will you be surprised to learn he carries with him a dark secret, or that his estranged wife, as opposed to the radiant daughter of the boat’s skipper, is one doozy of a femme fatale?
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 21, 2026
Everything, for a moment—mirror, ceiling, floor—was unstable and radiant as a dream.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
