Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget

dioptrics[obs3], catoptrics[obs3]. [Distribution of light] chiaroscuro, clairobscur[obs3], clear obscure, breadth, light and shade, black and white, tonality. reflection, refraction, dispersion; refractivity. V. shine, glow, glitter; glister, glisten; twinkle, gleam; flare, flare up; glare, beam, shimmer, glimmer, flicker, sparkle, scintillate, coruscate, flash, blaze; be bright &c. adj.; reflect light, daze, dazzle, bedazzle, radiate, shoot out beams; fulgurate. clear up, brighten. lighten, enlighten; levin[obs3]; light, light up; irradiate, shine upon; give out a light, hang out a light; cast light upon, cast light in, throw light upon, throw light in, shed light upon, shed luster upon; illume[obs3], illumine, illuminate; relume[obs3], strike a light; kindle &c. (set fire to) 384. Adj. shining &c. v.; luminous, luminiferous[obs3]; lucid, lucent, luculent[obs3], lucific[obs3], luciferous; light, lightsome; bright, vivid, splendent[obs3], nitid[obs3], lustrous, shiny, beamy[obs3], scintillant[obs3], radiant, lambent; sheen, sheeny; glossy, burnished, glassy, sunny, orient, meridian; noonday, tide; cloudless, clear; unclouded, unobscured[obs3]. gairish[obs3], garish; resplendent, transplendent[obs3]; refulgent, effulgent; fulgid[obs3], fulgent[obs3]; relucent[obs3], splendid, blazing, in a blaze, ablaze, rutilant[obs3], meteoric, phosphorescent; aglow. bright as silver; light as day, bright as day, light as noonday, bright as noonday, bright as the sun at noonday. actinic; photogenic[obs2], graphic; heliographic; heliophagous[obs3]. Phr. "a day for gods to stoop and men to soar" [Tennyson]; "dark with excessive bright" [Milton]. #421. Darkness.—N. darkness &c. adj., absence of light; blackness &c. (dark color) 431; obscurity, gloom, murk; dusk &c. (dimness) 422. Cimmerian darkness[obs3], Stygian darkness, Egyptian darkness; night; midnight; dead of night, witching hour of night, witching time of night; blind man's holiday; darkness visible, darkness that can be felt; palpable obscure; Erebus[Lat]; "the jaws of darkness" [Midsummer Night's Dream]; "sablevested night" [Milton]. shade, shadow, umbra, penumbra; sciagraphy[obs3]. obscuration; occultation, adumbration, obumbration[obs3]; obtenebration[obs3], offuscation|, caligation|; extinction; eclipse, total eclipse; gathering of the clouds. shading; distribution of shade; chiaroscuro &c. (light) 420. noctivagation[obs3]. [perfectly black objects] black body; hohlraum[Phys]; black hole; dark star; dark matter, cold dark matter. V. be dark &c. adj. darken, obscure, shade; dim; tone down, lower; overcast, overshadow; eclipse; obfuscate, offuscate|; obumbrate[obs3], adumbrate; cast into the shade becloud, bedim[obs3], bedarken[obs3]; cast a shade, throw a shade, spread a shade, cast a shadow, cast a gloom, throw a shadow, spread a shadow, cast gloom, throw gloom, spread gloom. extinguish; put out, blow out, snuff out; doubt. turn out the lights, douse the lights, dim the lights, turn off the lights, switch off the lights. Adj. dark, darksome[obs3], darkling; obscure, tenebrious[obs3], sombrous[obs3], pitch dark, pitchy, pitch black; caliginous[obs3]; black &c. (in color) 431. sunless, lightless &c. (see sun[obs3], light, &c. 423); somber, dusky; unilluminated &c. (see illuminate &c. 420)[obs3]; nocturnal; dingy, lurid, gloomy; murky, murksome[obs3]; shady, umbrageous; overcast &c. (dim) 422; cloudy &c. (opaque) 426; darkened; &c. v. dark as pitch, dark as a pit, dark as Erebus[Lat]. benighted; noctivagant!|, noctivagous!|. Adv. in the dark, in the shade. Phr. "brief as the lightning in the collied night" [M. N. D.]; "eldest Night and Chaos, ancestors of Nature" [P. L.]; "the blackness of the noonday night" [Longfellow]; "the prayer of Ajax was for light" [Longfellow]. #422. Dimness.—N. dimness &c. adj.; darkness &c. 421; paleness &c. # (light color) 429. half light, demi-jour; partial shadow, partial eclipse; shadow of a shade; glimmer, gliming[obs3]; nebulosity; cloud &c. 353; eclipse. aurora, dusk, twilight, shades of evening, crepuscule, cockshut time|; break of day, daybreak, dawn. moonlight, moonbeam, moonglade[obs3], moonshine; starlight, owl's light, candlelight, rushlight, firelight; farthing candle. V. be dim, grow dim &c. adj.; flicker, twinkle, glimmer; loom, lower; fade; pale, pale its ineffectual fire [Hamlet]. render dim &c. adj.; dim, bedim[obs3], obscure; darken, tone down. Adj. dim, dull, lackluster, dingy, darkish, shorn of its beams, dark 421. faint, shadowed forth; glassy; cloudy; misty &c. (opaque) 426; blear; muggy|, fuliginous[obs3]; nebulous, nebular; obnubilated[obs3], overcast, crepuscular, muddy, lurid, leaden, dun, dirty; looming &c. v. pale &c. (colorless) 429; confused &c. (invisible) 447. #423. [Source of light, self-luminous body.] Luminary.—N. luminary; light &c. 420; flame &c. (fire) 382. spark, scintilla; phosphorescence, fluorescence. sun, orb of day, Phoebus, Apollo[obs3], Aurora; star, orb; meteor, falling star, shooting star; blazing star, dog star, Sirius; canicula, Aldebaran[obs3]; constellation, galaxy; zodiacal light; anthelion[obs3]; day star, morning star; Lucifer; mock sun, parhelion; phosphor, phosphorus; sun dog|!; Venus. aurora, polar lights; northern lights, aurora borealis; southern lights, aurora australis. lightning; chain lightning, fork lightning, sheet lightning, summer lightning; ball lightning, kugelblitz [German]; [chemical substances giving off light without burning] phosphorus, yellow phosphorus; scintillator, phosphor; firefly luminescence. ignis fatuus[Lat]; Jack o'lantern, Friar's lantern; will-o'-the-wisp, firedrake[obs3], Fata Morgana[Lat]; Saint Elmo's fire. [luminous insects] glowworm, firefly, June bug, lightning bug. [luminous fish] anglerfish. [Artificial light] gas; gas light, lime light, lantern, lanthorn[obs3]; dark lantern, bull's-eye; candle, bougie[Fr], taper, rushlight; oil &c. (grease) 356; wick, burner; Argand[obs3], moderator, duplex; torch, flambeau, link, brand; gaselier[obs3], chandelier, electrolier[obs3], candelabrum, candelabra, girandole[obs3], sconce, luster, candlestick. [non-combustion based light sources] lamp, light; incandescent lamp, tungsten bulb, light bulb; flashlight, torch[Brit]; arc light; laser; maser [microwave radiation]; neon bulb, neon sign; fluorescent lamp. [parts of a light bulb] filament; socket; contacts; filler gas. firework, fizgig[obs3]; pyrotechnics; rocket, lighthouse &c. (signal) 550. V. illuminate &c. (light) 420. Adj. self-luminous, glowing; phosphoric|!, phosphorescent, fluorescent; incandescent; luminescent, chemiluminescent; radiant &c. (light) 420. Phr. "blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels" [Longfellow]; "the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky" [Campbell]; "the planets in their station list'ning stood" [Paradise Lost]; "the Scriptures of the skies" [Bailey]; "that orbed continent, the fire that severs day from night" [Twelfth Night]. #424. Shade.—N. shade; awning &c. (cover) 223; parasol, sunshade, # umbrella; chick; portiere; screen, curtain, shutter, blind, gauze, veil, chador, mantle, mask; cloud, mist, gathering. of clouds. umbrage, glade; shadow &c. 421. beach umbrella, folding umbrella. V. draw a curtain; put up a shutter, close a shutter; veil &c. v.; cast a shadow &c. (darken) 421. Adj. shady, umbrageous. Phr. "welcome ye shades! ye bowery thickets hail" [Thomson]. #425. Transparency.—N. transparence, transparency; clarity; translucence, translucency; diaphaneity[obs3]; lucidity, pellucidity[obs3], limpidity; fluorescence; transillumination, translumination[obs3]. transparent medium, glass, crystal, lymph, vitrite[obs3], water. V. be transparent &c. adj.; transmit light. Adj. transparent, pellucid, lucid, diaphanous, translucent, tralucent|, relucent[obs3]; limpid, clear, serene, crystalline, clear as crystal, vitreous, transpicuous[obs3], glassy, hyaline; hyaloid[Med], vitreform[obs3]. #426. Opacity.—N. opacity; opaqueness &c. adj. # film; cloud &c. 353. V. be opaque &c. adj.; obstruct the passage of light; obfuscate, offuscate|. Adj. opaque, impervious to light; adiaphanous[obs3]; dim &c. 422; turbid, thick, muddy, opacous|, obfuscated, fuliginous[obs3], cloud, hazy, misty, foggy, vaporous, nubiferous[obs3], muggy|| (turbidity) 426a. smoky, fumid[obs3], murky, dirty. #426a. Turbidity—N. turbidity, cloudiness, fog, haze, muddiness, # haziness, obscurity. nephelometer[instrument to measure turbidity]. Adj. turbid, thick, muddy, obfuscated, fuliginous[obs3], hazy, misty, foggy, vaporous, nubiferous[obs3]; cloudy (cloud) 353. smoky, fumid[obs3], murky, dirty. #427. Semitransparency.—N. semitransparency, translucency, # semiopacity; opalescence, milkiness, pearliness[obs3]; gauze, muslin; film; mica, mother-of-pearl, nacre; mist &c. (cloud) 353. [opalescent jewel] opal. turbidity &c. 426a. Adj. semitransparent, translucent, semipellucid[obs3], semidiaphanous[obs3], semiopacous[obs3], semiopaque; opalescent, opaline[obs3]; pearly, milky; frosted, nacreous. V. opalesce. (ii) SPECIFIC LIGHT #428. Color.—N. color, hue, tint, tinge, dye, complexion, shade, tincture, cast, livery, coloration, glow, flush; tone, key. pure color, positive color, primary color, primitive complementary color; three primaries; spectrum, chromatic dispersion; broken color, secondary color, tertiary color. local color, coloring, keeping, tone, value, aerial perspective. [Science of color] chromatics, spectrum analysis, spectroscopy; chromatism[obs3], chromatography||, chromatology[obs3]. [instruments to measure color] prism, spectroscope, spectrograph, spectrometer, colorimeter (optical instruments) 445. pigment, coloring matter, paint, dye, wash, distemper, stain; medium; mordant; oil paint &c. painting 556. V. color, dye, tinge, stain, tint, tinct[obs3], paint, wash, ingrain, grain, illuminate, emblazon, bedizen, imbue; paint &c. (fine art) 556. Adj. colored &c. v.; colorific[obs3], tingent[obs3], tinctorial[obs3]; chromatic, prismatic; full-colored, high-colored, deep-colored; doubly- dyed; polychromatic; chromatogenous[obs3]; tingible[obs3]. bright, vivid, intense, deep; fresh, unfaded[obs3]; rich, gorgeous; gay. gaudy, florid; gay, garish; rainbow-colored, multihued; showy, flaunting, flashy; raw, crude; glaring, flaring; discordant, inharmonious. mellow, pastel, harmonious, pearly, sweet, delicate, tender, refined. #429. [Absence of color.] Achromatism.—N. achromatism[obs3]; decoloration[obs3], discoloration; pallor, pallidness, pallidity[obs3]; paleness &c. adj.; etiolation; neutral tint, monochrome, black and white. V. lose color &c. 428; fade, fly, go; become colorless &c. adj.; turn pale, pale. deprive of color, decolorize, bleach, tarnish, achromatize, blanch, etiolate, wash out, tone down. Adj. uncolored &c. (see color &c. 428); colorless, achromatic, aplanatic[obs3]; etiolate, etiolated; hueless[obs3], pale, pallid; palefaced[obs3], tallow-faced; faint, dull, cold, muddy, leaden, dun, wan, sallow, dead, dingy, ashy, ashen, ghastly, cadaverous, glassy, lackluster; discolored &c. v. light-colored, fair, blond; white &c. 430. pale as death, pale as ashes, pale as a witch, pale as a ghost, pale as a corpse, white as a corpse. #430. Whiteness.—N. whiteness &c. adj.; argent. albification[obs3], etiolation; lactescence[obs3]. snow, paper, chalk, milk, lily, ivory, alabaster; albata[obs3], eburin[obs3], German silver, white metal, barium sulphate[Chem], titanium oxide, blanc fixe[Fr], ceruse[obs3], pearl white; white lead, carbonate of lead. V. be white &c. adj. render white &c. adj.; whiten, bleach, blanch, etiolate, whitewash, silver. Adj. white; milk-white, snow-white; snowy; niveous[obs3], candid, chalky; hoar, hoary; silvery; argent, argentine; canescent[obs3], cretaceous, lactescent[obs3]. whitish, creamy, pearly, fair, blond; blanched &c. v.; high in tone, light. white as a sheet, white as driven snow, white as a lily, white as silver; like ivory &c. n. #431. Blackness.—N. blackness &c. adj.; darkness &c. (want of light). 421; swartliness[obs3], lividity, dark color, tone, color; chiaroscuro &c. 420. nigrification[obs3], infuscation[obs3]. jet, ink, ebony, coal pitch, soot, charcoal, sloe, smut, raven, crow. [derogatory terms for black-skinned people] Negro, blackamoor, man of color, nigger, darkie, Ethiop, black; buck, nigger [U. S.]; coon [U. S.], sambo. [Pigments] lampblack, ivory black, blueblack; writing ink, printing ink, printer's ink, Indian ink, India ink. V. be black &c. adj.; render -black &c. adj. blacken, infuscate[obs3], denigrate; blot, blotch; smutch[obs3]; smirch; darken &c. 421. black, sable, swarthy, somber, dark, inky, ebony, ebon, atramentous[obs3], jetty; coal-black, jet-black; fuliginous[obs3], pitchy, sooty, swart, dusky, dingy, murky, Ethiopic; low-toned, low in tone; of the deepest dye. black as jet &c. n., black as my hat, black as a shoe, black as a tinker's pot, black as November, black as thunder, black as midnight; nocturnal &c. (dark) 421; nigrescent[obs3]; gray &c. 432; obscure &c. 421. Adv. in mourning. #432. Gray.—N. gray &c. adj.; neutral tint, silver, pepper and salt, chiaroscuro, grisaille[Fr]. [Pigments] Payne's gray; black &c.