Men of genius are meteors destined to burn in order to illuminate their century.
Source: tatoeba (391771)
Illuminate
//ɪˈl(j)umɪneɪt//
Synonyms for "illuminate" (255 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (51)
Strong matches (77)
clear upcoatcolorcomplexionconstruecovercrackdabdangledaubdecipherdecoratedeep-dyedefinedemonstratedemythologizedevelopdiamonddipdisabuse
Show 48 more words
disclosedisplaydistemperdivulgedoctordouble-dyedramatizedyeedifyelderelder statesmanelucidateembellishemblazonembodyenactenamelengildengraveenlightenennobleeuhemerizeevidenceevinceexaltexemplifyexhibitexplainexplain awayexplicateexpose to viewexpositexpoundexpressfacefast-dyefeatherfigurefiligreefinishfireflagflauntflood with lightfloodlightflounceflourishflower
Related words (127)
frescogarlandgemgildgive reason forgive signgive the meaninggive tokenglazegleamglossgrainguruhighlighthueigniteillumeillumineimbueimprove
Show 99 more words
incarnateindicateinformingrainintellectintellectualinterpretirradiatejapanjewelkindlelacquerlay on colorlight uplightenluminatemahatmamake a show ofmake clearmake plainmandarinmanifestmastermastermindmaterializematuremeanmentororacleornamentovershinepaintparadepargetperfectperformphilosopherpigmentplumepolishpopularizepresentprimeproducerabbirationalizerefinerelumereluminerepresentrevealribbonroll outsagesapientsavantscholarseerset forthshadeshadowshed light uponshellacshine uponshowshow forthshow howshow the waysimplifyslop on paintsmearsolvespanglespell outspotlightstainstaretsstipplethinkerthrow light upontincttincturetingetinseltinttokentonetrot outtwinkleundercoatunfoldunlockunravelupliftvarnishwashwavewhitewashwreathe
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
11 entriesMore specific
3 entriesSynonyms
6 entriesRelated terms
2 entriesderived
9 entriesentails
1 entriesetymologically related_to
1 entrieshas context
2 entriesmanner of
1 entriesrelated to
16 entriesTranslations
83 translations across 36 languages.
Ancient Greek
1 entries- φωτίζω verb (to shine light on something)
Armenian
1 entries- լուսավորել verb (to shine light on something)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- işıqlandırmaq verb (to shine light on something)
Bulgarian
3 entries- осветявам verb (to shine light on something)
- разяснявам verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
- украсявам с рисунки verb (to decorate the page of a manuscript book with ornamental designs)
Catalan
1 entries- il·luminar verb (to shine light on something)
Chinese Mandarin
2 entries- 照亮 verb (to shine light on something)
- 照明 verb (to shine light on something)
Czech
2 entries- osvětlit verb (to shine light on something)
- osvětlovat verb (to shine light on something)
Dutch
4 entries- belichten verb (to shine light on something)
- illumineren verb (to decorate something with lights)
- verhelderen verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
- verlichten verb (to decorate something with lights)
Esperanto
1 entries- ilumini verb (to shine light on something)
Estonian
1 entries- valgustama verb (to shine light on something)
Finnish
2 entries- valaista verb (to shine light on something)
- valaista verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
French
1 entries- illuminer verb (to shine light on something)
Galician
3 entries- alumear verb (to shine light on something)
- iluminar verb (to shine light on something)
- iluminar verb (to decorate the page of a manuscript book with ornamental designs)
German
3 entries- beleuchten verb (to shine light on something)
- erhellen verb (to shine light on something)
- illuminieren verb (to decorate something with lights)
Hungarian
4 entries- megmagyaráz verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
- megvilágít verb (to shine light on something)
- megvilágít verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
- megértet verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
Ido
4 entries- enluminar verb (to decorate the page of a manuscript book with ornamental designs)
- iluminar verb (to decorate something with lights)
- klarigar verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
- lumizar verb (to shine light on something)
Interlingua
1 entries- illuminar verb (to shine light on something)
Irish
1 entries- maisigh verb (to decorate the page of a manuscript book with ornamental designs)
Italian
4 entries- chiarire verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
- illuminare verb (to shine light on something)
- illuminare verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
- miniare verb (to decorate the page of a manuscript book with ornamental designs)
Japanese
2 entries- 照らす verb (to shine light on something)
- 照明する verb (to shine light on something)
Kazakh
4 entries- астыңғы жағынан жарық түсіру verb (to decorate something with lights)
- ағарту verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
- бүйірден сəулелендіру verb (to decorate something with lights)
- жарықтандыру verb (to shine light on something)
Latin
1 entries- illuminare verb (to shine light on something)
Lithuanian
1 entries- apšviesti verb (to shine light on something)
Mirandese
1 entries- alhumbrar verb (to shine light on something)
Māori
1 entries- tūrama verb (to shine light on something)
Norman
1 entries- illeuminner verb (to shine light on something)
Polish
2 entries- iluminować verb (to shine light on something)
- oświetlać verb (to shine light on something)
Portuguese
4 entries- clarear verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
- clarificar verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
- iluminar verb (to shine light on something)
- iluminar verb (to decorate something with lights)
Quechua
1 entries- achikyay verb (to shine light on something)
Romanian
4 entries- clarifica verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
- decora verb (to decorate the page of a manuscript book with ornamental designs)
- ilumina verb (to shine light on something)
- ilumina verb (to decorate something with lights)
Russian
4 entries- освети́ть verb (to shine light on something)
- освеща́ть verb (to shine light on something)
- подсвети́ть verb (to decorate something with lights)
- просвети́ть verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
Spanish
1 entries- iluminar verb (to shine light on something)
Swedish
2 entries- belysa verb (to shine light on something)
- lysa upp verb (to shine light on something)
Tocharian A
1 entries- luk verb (to shine light on something)
Tocharian B
1 entries- luk verb (to shine light on something)
Ukrainian
4 entries- осві́тлювати verb (to shine light on something)
- осві́тлювати verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
- освітли́ти verb (to shine light on something)
- освітли́ти verb (to clarify or make something understandable)
Sample sentences
17 total sentences available.
Just as it is better to illuminate than merely to shine, so to pass on what one has contemplated is better than merely to contemplate.
Source: tatoeba (827211)
The sun is the torch, the lamp of the universe; if it is situated in the central region it's because this is the best place to illuminate the planets.
Source: tatoeba (1129380)
I illuminate myself with immensity.
Source: tatoeba (1326581)
Showing 4 of 17 available sentences.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.