What does "iridescence" mean?

The condition or state of being iridescent; exhibition of colors like those of the rainbow; a prismatic play of color.

What is a synonym for "iridescence"?

Common synonyms include: goniochromism, light show, luster, nacre, opalescence, opalescence.

Pronounced //ˌɪɹ.ɪˈdɛs.əns//.

//ˌɪɹ.ɪˈdɛs.əns// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The condition or state of being iridescent; exhibition of colors like those of the rainbow; a prismatic play of color. countable, uncountable
2
the visual property of something having a milky brightness and a play of colors from the surface wordnet
3
Any shimmer of glittering and changeable colors. countable, uncountable

"Iridescence is a phenomenon in which the color of an object changes depending on the angle it is seen from or due to a change in light."

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.