radiance means the quality or state of being radiant; shining, bright or splendid. It carries an Arena rating of 1917, earned across 22 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, radiance ranks #464 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #1,601 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #3,604 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #5,022 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
radiance is pronounced /ˈɹeɪdi.əns/.
Why “radiance” is a great word
The emission or reflection of a bright, shining light, possessing both a literal intensity and a subtle calculus of energy. From the Latin radiare ("to emit rays, to shine") + -ance, forming a noun of action or state; attested in English from c. 1600. Unlike "luminosity," which implies a measurable, intrinsic output, or "glow," which suggests a soft, steady, and contained warmth, radiance implies an active, directional brilliance—light that is not merely present, but projects. It is the cold, needle-sharp glitter of sunlight on sea-spray, the fierce corona glimpsed around a silhouetted head, and the sudden blade of sun through a shuttered window—light not merely present but pressing against the eye, a grateful shock that reminds us seeing is always, in some measure, being struck.
Etymology
From radiant + -ance.
noun
- The quality or state of being radiant; shining, bright or splendid.e.g.“Girt with omnipotence, with radiance crowned.” — 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished
- The flux of radiation emitted per unit solid angle in a given direction by a unit area of a source.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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