Meaning & use
self-luminous
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivenot comparabletechnical
Giving off its own light rather than reflecting light from another source.
Grammar: Not used with 'more' or 'most'; it describes a fixed property.
Patterns
- a self-luminous object
- self-luminous material
- self-luminous body
The sun is a self-luminous body, while the moon is not.
Scientists studied the self-luminous particles in the laboratory.
Some deep-sea creatures are self-luminous and produce their own light.
Common combinations
- self-luminous object
- A star is a self-luminous object.
- self-luminous body
- The telescope captured images of a distant self-luminous body.
- self-luminous material
- The paint contains a self-luminous material that glows in the dark.
- self-luminous particles
- The experiment produced self-luminous particles.
Synonyms and how they differ
- luminescent
- Luminescent means giving off light without heat, often by chemical or biological means; self-luminous is broader and simply means producing its own light.
- incandescent
- Incandescent means glowing with heat; self-luminous does not necessarily involve heat.
- glowing
- Glowing is an everyday word for giving off a soft light; self-luminous is technical and precise.
Opposites
Word family
- luminous adjective
- Giving off light; bright.
- luminosity noun
- The quality of giving off light; brightness.
- luminescence noun
- The emission of light not caused by heat.
Commonly confused: self-luminous or luminous?
self-luminous vs luminous
Luminous means giving off light, but it can also mean reflecting light or simply being bright; self-luminous specifically means producing its own light.
Practice
In astronomy, a star is called a ______ body because it produces its own light.
Choose one answer.
'Self-luminous' is the precise technical term for an object that generates its own light; 'luminous' is less specific, and 'reflective' and 'transparent' describe different properties.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “self-luminous”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.