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radiant

Pronunciation: /ˈreɪdɪənt/

Translate radiant | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of radiant

adjective

  • 1sending out light; shining or glowing brightly:a bird with radiant green and red plumage
  • (of a person or their expression) clearly emanating great joy, love, or health:she gave him a radiant smile
  • (of an emotion or quality) emanating powerfully from someone or something; very conspicuous:he praised her radiant self-confidence
  • 2 [attributive] (of electromagnetic energy, especially heat) transmitted by radiation, rather than conduction or convection: plants convert the radiant energy of the sun into chemical energy
  • (of an appliance) designed to emit radiant energy, especially for cooking or heating: a radiant heater

noun

  • a point or object from which light or heat radiates, especially a heating element in an electric or gas heater: I sat down by my hissing gas fire—one of the radiants was missing
  • Astronomy a radiant point: don’t assume that you should stare toward the radiant to see the most meteors

Derivatives

radiancy

noun

radiantly

adverb

Origin:

late Middle English: from Latin radiant- 'emitting rays', from the verb radiare (see radiate)

radiant in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of radiant in the US English dictionary
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