This week’s theme
Words used figuratively

This week’s words
scaturient
relucent


Wordsmith Games
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
🌍 Langitude
Trace blarney home
🧩 Jigsaw Riddle
The gift of the gab

A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(ri-LOO-suhnt)

MEANING:

adjective
1. Shining or reflecting light.
2. Radiant; luminous.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin re- (back) + lucere (to shine). Earliest documented use: 1487.

NOTES:

Relucent is a synonym of lucent. So why add the prefix re- and make the word longer when it means the same? Sometimes prefixes are added for emphasis, but over time the word loses its extra shine and settles back into the unprefixed meaning. Other examples are fulgent and refulgent, iterate and reiterate, splendent and resplendent.

USAGE:

“The myriad-headed monster fights and bleeds for this one thing, this red-burning, relucent gold.”
Stefan Zweig; Émile Verhaeren; Constable & Co.; 1914.

“And for the relucent queen of the Tonys, [Audra] McDonald, she’s most focused on the present state of theater and how the Tony Awards reflect that.”
Alan H. Scott; Broadway’s Returns Are up and the Tonys Are Proof; It’s as Diverse as Ever; Newsweek (New York); Jun 13, 2025.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: