Iridescent

//ˌɪɹ.ɪˈdɛs.ənt// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Producing a display of lustrous, rainbow-like colors; prismatic. not-comparable

    "iridescent appearance"

  2. 2
    Brilliant, lustrous, or colorful.

    "iridescent sheen"

Adjective
  1. 1
    having a play of lustrous rainbow colors wordnet
  2. 2
    varying in color when seen in different lights or from different angles wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
burelechangeablechatoyantchatoyantcolorfulcreamy

Example

More examples

"Once when the gentle rain fell I glided in a barge down a sunless stream under the earth till I reached another world of purple twilight, iridescent arbours, and undying roses."

Etymology

Coined around 1800, from Latin iris, iridis (“rainbow”) + -escent.

Related phrases

iridescent cloudiridescent sharkiridescent ware

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