as in brightness
the quality or state of having or giving off light
the exceptional effulgence of the harvest moon is always a striking sight
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Recent Examples of effulgence
What’s that goopy white effulgence coming out of that girl—ectoplasm?
—
Literary Hub, 26 May 2026
Though the Star of Bethlehem has sunk, yet its sacred effulgence beams forth periodically, again and again, and a universe is filled with joy in honor of the Great Redeemer.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 23 Dec. 2024
Maggie Rogers paired her of-the-moment shag with natural notes—bare skin, freckles, grass—as elsewhere, Elle Fanning enjoyed the lit effects of golden hour, which took her complexion and blanched blonde to new levels of effulgence.
—Calin Van Paris, Vogue, 10 July 2022
Absent from Van Noten’s three-decade career are stories of bankruptcy, strife, irresponsibility, overleverage, overexpansion, overspending or unhinged, dangerous effulgence.
—Hanya Yanagihara, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2017
Literary Hub, 26 May 2026
Though the Star of Bethlehem has sunk, yet its sacred effulgence beams forth periodically, again and again, and a universe is filled with joy in honor of the Great Redeemer.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 23 Dec. 2024
Maggie Rogers paired her of-the-moment shag with natural notes—bare skin, freckles, grass—as elsewhere, Elle Fanning enjoyed the lit effects of golden hour, which took her complexion and blanched blonde to new levels of effulgence.
—Calin Van Paris, Vogue, 10 July 2022
Absent from Van Noten’s three-decade career are stories of bankruptcy, strife, irresponsibility, overleverage, overexpansion, overspending or unhinged, dangerous effulgence.
—Hanya Yanagihara, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for effulgence
Noun
-
Adjusting the phase of light can unintentionally change its brightness, potentially affecting security.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
9 June 2026
-
Add the lime juice just before serving to preserve brightness and prevent bitterness.—
Kate Bradshaw,
Mercury News,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
The result is an incredible repository of vexations, bafflements, witticisms, and brilliancies.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
-
So, astronomers have come up with a compromise regarding the geometry of the sun's illumination angle on Venus' disk versus its distance from Earth to determine the time of Venus' greatest brilliancy.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
His unselfishness and understanding of how to fit his skill set around Nikola Jokic’s brilliance remain unmatched.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
8 June 2026
-
Sport, in a world of artificial intelligence and synthetics, is also very human, in all its brilliance and fallibility.—
Kamal Ahmed,
Fortune,
8 June 2026
Noun
-
Here, Elliott Gould brings a deft touch to his hang-dog detective Philip Marlowe, moving with a lightness that's hard to pin down but is undeniably comic.—
Eric Farwell,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 June 2026
-
There is a remarkable lightness to Tuchel, a candour and directness.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
10 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Effulgence.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/effulgence. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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