Luminous, like its synonyms radiant, shining, glowing, and lustrous, is generally a positive adjective, especially when it describes something that doesn't literally glow, such as a face, a performance, or a poem. Luminous signs depend on a gas such as neon, krypton, argon, xenon, or radon—and you can use luminous (DayGlo) paint to make your own signs. New technologies have now given us luminous fabrics, which are being used to produce striking or creepy effects in clothing, upholstery, and interior surfaces.
bright implies emitting or reflecting a high degree of light.
brilliant implies intense often sparkling brightness.
radiant stresses the emission or seeming emission of rays of light.
luminous implies emission of steady, suffused, glowing light by reflection or in surrounding darkness.
lustrous stresses an even, rich light from a surface that reflects brightly without glittering.
Example Sentences
I saw the cat's luminous eyes in my car's headlights. a watch with a luminous dial The room was luminous with sunlight.
Recent Examples on the WebThe best highlighters not only leave a luminous glow but like this RMS pigment, can support healthy skin, too. Kiana Murden, Vogue, 12 Aug. 2022 Liquid or cream bronzers provide a luminous glow for dry or normal skin.ELLE, 22 Apr. 2022 The image dazzles from a computer screen in the corner of the room: six beams of red-orange light bursting from a luminous Milky Way star. Christine Condon, Baltimore Sun, 15 Apr. 2022 And up the stairs comes this luminous, amazing, sort of angelic, beautiful person...Town & Country, 28 Aug. 2022 Two decades earlier, in the 1970s, Rees correctly hypothesized that supermassive black holes power the luminous jets observed in some far-off, brightly glowing galaxies called quasars. Thomas Lewton, Quanta Magazine, 23 Aug. 2022 Posing with her head tilted to one side, her skin luminous, the actor looked relaxed and happy. Hannah Coates, Vogue, 15 Aug. 2022 Herbig-Haro objects are luminous regions that surround newborn stars. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 15 Aug. 2022 Schaar is luminous and mischievous as Rosalind, who grows to relish the freedom of discarding her 1950s crinoline dress and high heels for manly apparel and a pencil moustache. Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Aug. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Latin luminosus, from lumin-, lumen