specular means pertaining to mirrors; mirror-like, reflective. It carries an Arena rating of 1586, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, specular ranks #2,672 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,204 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #4,024 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #4,216 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words.
specular is pronounced /ˈspɛk.jʊ.lə/.
Why “specular” is a great word
Pertaining to or having the properties of a mirror; reflective. From the Latin specularis, from speculum ("mirror"), from specere ("to look at"), first attested in English in the 1570s for 'semi-transparent' (specular stone) and the 1660s for 'reflective'. Unlike "diffuse," which scatters light in all directions from rough surfaces, or "opaque," which blocks light entirely, specular describes the cold precision of perfect reflection. It is the black ice on a winter road holding the moon like a held breath, the polished obsidian of an ancient mirror that once showed emperors their own faces, and the still surface of a mountain lake at dawn so exact the sky exists in two places at once—a doubling that reminds us how much of the visible world is merely borrowed light, and how easily we mistake reflection for depth.
Etymology
From Latin speculāris, from speculum; and in some senses from speculārī (“to watch, observe”). Some later senses via French spéculaire.
adj
- Pertaining to mirrors; mirror-like, reflective.e.g.“a perfect likeness would rather suggest a specular, and hence speculatory, phenomenon [...].” — 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 14:
- Of or relating to a speculum; conducted with the aid of a speculum.e.g.“a specular examination”
- Assisting sight, like a lens etc.e.g.“Thy specular orb / Apply to well-dissected kernels; lo! / In each observe the slender threads / Of first-beginning trees.” — 1708, John Philips, Cyder:
- Offering an expansive view; picturesque.e.g.“Calm as the Universe, from specular towers / Of heaven contemplated by Spirits pure.” — 1833, William Wordsworth, Hope Smiled:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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