Word of the Day

: October 9, 2024

coruscate

verb KOR-uh-skayt

What It Means

To coruscate is to give off or reflect light in bright beams or flashes. Coruscate is used as a synonym of sparkle and may also be used to mean "to be brilliant or showy in technique or style."

// She placed a bid on a classic car from the 1950s, replete with yards of coruscating chrome.

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coruscate in Context

"The show is beautifully laid out. It's installed in a small, dark, semicircular gallery, with jewelry in vitrines spotlighted against a black acetate and Plexiglas. The diamonds glint and coruscate as you move across the displays." — Seph Rodney, The New York Times, 2 Sept. 2024

Did You Know?

"You're a shining star / No matter who you are." So sang the band Earth, Wind & Fire on their 1975 hit "Shining Star," which is not only a coruscating gem of funk and soul but one that serves as a handy (and catchy) way to remember the dual uses of the verb coruscate. This formal-sounding synonym of sparkle comes from the Latin verb coruscare, meaning "to flash." Originally, coruscate was used only literally, applied when things—such as, well, shining stars—glitter or gleam, as when Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote in his 1852 short story about a scarecrow, "Feathertop," that "the star kept coruscating on Feathertop's breast…." Eventually, coruscate gained figurative use, applying to those human shining stars who may be said to have a "coruscating wit" or "coruscating brilliance," or to things (such as satires, performances, or prose) that are metaphorically brilliant.