Meaning & use
shiny
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Bright and smooth because light bounces off the surface.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a shiny coin, the car is shiny.
Patterns
- shiny with something
- be shiny
She polished the shoes until they were shiny.
The baby grabbed a shiny spoon from the table.
The new coin was bright and shiny.
adjectivebefore a nouninformalfigurative
Looking brand new, exciting, or appealing, sometimes in a way that distracts from deeper problems.
Grammar: Often figurative: a shiny new gadget.
Patterns
- shiny new something
He was tempted by the shiny new phone.
The company launched a shiny new website.
She wanted to try every shiny new app.
Word forms
| comparative | shinier |
|---|---|
| superlative | shiniest |
Common combinations
- shiny new
- He showed off his shiny new bike.
- shiny surface
- The shiny surface of the table reflected the lamp.
- shiny hair
- The shampoo promises soft, shiny hair.
- shiny object
- Magpies are attracted to shiny objects.
- bright and shiny
- The trophy was bright and shiny.
Synonyms and how they differ
- glossy
- Glossy suggests a smooth coated surface, like paper or paint, with a soft shine.
- gleaming
- Gleaming is more vivid and suggests a bright, clean shine.
- polished
- Polished says the shine was produced by rubbing or finishing.
- glittering
- Glittering suggests sparkling points of light rather than a smooth shine.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: shiny or shining?
shiny vs shining
Shining describes something giving out light or praised as excellent, while shiny describes a surface that reflects light.
Practice
After a good wash and wax, the old car looked ___ again.
Choose one answer.
Looked takes an adjective, and shiny is the adjective. Shine and shone are verb forms that do not fit after looked.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “shiny”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.