Meaning & use
nacreous
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Meanings
adjectivecomparableliterary
Shining with soft, shifting rainbow colors, like the smooth inside of an oyster shell.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a nacreous glow; the shell looked nacreous.
Patterns
- a nacreous sheen
- nacreous with something
The inside of the abalone shell had a nacreous glimmer of green and pink.
She chose a nacreous nail polish that changed color in the light.
The lake looked nacreous at dawn, silver shot with pale blue.
adjectivenot comparabletechnical
Made of or relating to nacre, the hard, shiny material that lines some mollusk shells and forms pearls.
Grammar: A technical sense, used in zoology and jewelry.
Patterns
- a nacreous layer
The oyster builds a nacreous layer around the grain of sand.
Nacreous buttons were once cut from freshwater mussel shells.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Of high clouds in polar regions that shimmer in pearly colors, usually near sunrise or sunset.
Grammar: Almost always in the phrase nacreous clouds.
Patterns
- nacreous clouds
Photographers traveled north to catch the rare nacreous clouds.
Nacreous clouds form high in the stratosphere in very cold air.
Word forms
| comparative | more nacreous |
|---|---|
| superlative | most nacreous |
Common combinations
- nacreous clouds
- Nacreous clouds lit up the winter sky over Norway.
- nacreous sheen
- The pearl had a delicate nacreous sheen.
- nacreous glow
- A nacreous glow filled the horizon before sunrise.
- nacreous layer
- The shell's nacreous layer is made of tiny crystal plates.
- nacreous finish
- The car came with a nacreous finish that shimmered in the sun.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pearly
- Pearly is the plain everyday word, while nacreous is more scientific or poetic.
- iridescent
- Iridescent describes any surface showing changing rainbow colors, such as a bubble, while nacreous ties the shimmer to shell or pearl.
- opalescent
- Opalescent suggests a milky glow like an opal, which is softer and more cloudy than nacreous.
- lustrous
- Lustrous means simply shining, without the shifting colors that nacreous implies.
Opposites
Word family
- nacre noun
- mother-of-pearl, the shiny lining of some shells
- nacrite noun
- a pearly white clay mineral
Commonly confused: nacreous or nascent?
nacreous vs nascent
Nascent means just beginning to develop, and it has nothing to do with shells or shine, though it looks and sounds a little similar.
Practice
Which object would most naturally be described as nacreous?
Choose one answer.
Nacreous refers to the pearly, rainbow shimmer of shell lining. Sandpaper, wood and brick are all matte, so the word does not fit them.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “nacreous”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.