Lustre
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 British standard spelling of luster (shine, etc.). countable, uncountable
"Various kinds of minerals differ in their lustre; iron pyrites are described as having a metallic lustre, glassy materials a vitreous lustre; others, such as opal, look resinous, and the lustres of yet others are described as being either pearly, or silky, or dull, like earth."
- 2 Alternative form of luster: A 5-year period, especially (historical) in Roman contexts. UK, alt-of, alternative
- 3 Alternative form of luster: a den, a dwelling-place in a wilderness, especially for animals. UK, alt-of, alternative, obsolete
- 4 a surface coating for ceramics or porcelain wordnet
- 5 the visual property of something that shines with reflected light wordnet
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- 6 a quality that outshines the usual wordnet
- 1 Alternative form of luster. UK, alt-of, alternative
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Grandeur and gallantry never appeared with more lustre in France, than in the last years of Henry the Second's reign."
Etymology
From Middle French lustre. See luster (etymology 1).
From Middle English lustre, from Latin lustrum, from Old Latin *loustrom, of uncertain origin. More at lustrum.
From Latin lustra (“wilds, woods”), thought to derive from unattested *dustrum, from unattested Ancient Greek *δύστρον (*dústron, “place animals wallow”), from δύω (dúō, “to plunge, to wallow”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.