Luminous
easyPositive toneLOO-mih-nus
adjective
Definition
giving off light; bright or brilliant (often figuratively, of intellect)
Memory hook
LUMINOUS contains 'lumin' like a 'lumen' (the unit of light). Picture a glowing jellyfish lighting up the whole dark ocean.
Word roots
Learning roots unlocks whole word families. Study common GRE root words.
Examples
“The luminous dial of the watch glowed faintly in the dark cabin.”
“Her luminous prose lit up an otherwise dry academic anthology.”
Test yourself
Fill in the blank with the right word:
“The ______ dial of the watch glowed faintly in the dark cabin.”
Show answer
luminous
Synonyms
Antonyms
Categories
GRE Tip
Luminous is a easy-difficulty GRE word. On the GRE, you might see it paired with synonyms like "radiant" or "glowing" in Sentence Equivalence questions. Look for contrast clues (however, despite, although) that signal the opposite meaning. Words like "dim".
Related GRE Words
approbation
official or warm approval and praise
caustic
bitingly sarcastic or sharply critical (also chemically corrosive)
condone
to overlook, forgive, or tacitly approve of an offense
deprecate
to express strong disapproval of; to belittle
derivative
unoriginal; imitative of someone else's work
egregious
conspicuously and outrageously bad
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