lucid
adjective
lu·cid ˈlü-səd 
1
a
: suffused with light : luminous
b
: translucent
snorkeling in the lucid sea
2
: having full use of one's faculties : sane
3
: clear to the understanding : intelligible
lucidly adverb
lucidness noun
Did you know?
Shine a Light on the Origin of Lucid
Lucid comes from the Latin verb lucere, meaning "to shine," which is reflected in its meanings "filled with light" or "shining." It also describes someone whose mind is clear or something with a clear meaning.
Synonyms
- beaming
- bedazzling
- bright
- brilliant
- candescent
- clear
- dazzling
- effulgent
- fulgent
- glowing
- incandescent
- lambent
- lucent
- luminous
- lustrous
- radiant
- refulgent
- sheeny
- shining
- shiny
- splendid
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
The stroke also set off a major crisis of presidential succession, as the debilitated and not entirely lucid president continued to cling to office and plan feebly for re-election. 
Beverly Gage, New York Times Book Review, 13 Dec 2009 His lucid history of this grim subject is scrupulously accurate, so far as I am able to judge … Richard A. Posner, New Republic, 8 Apr 2002 "You would like me to read to you?" "You would oblige me greatly by doing so, Dorothea," said Mr. Casaubon, with a shade more meekness than usual in his polite manner. "I am wakeful: my mind is remarkably lucid." George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1872 The atmosphere, seen through a short space of half or three-quarters of a mile, was perfectly lucid, but at a greater distance all colours were blended into a most beautiful haze … Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle, 1839 He is able to recognize his wife in his lucid moments. those lucid bands that spread across the arctic sky and are known as the northern lights See More
Beverly Gage, New York Times Book Review, 13 Dec 2009 His lucid history of this grim subject is scrupulously accurate, so far as I am able to judge … Richard A. Posner, New Republic, 8 Apr 2002 "You would like me to read to you?" "You would oblige me greatly by doing so, Dorothea," said Mr. Casaubon, with a shade more meekness than usual in his polite manner. "I am wakeful: my mind is remarkably lucid." George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1872 The atmosphere, seen through a short space of half or three-quarters of a mile, was perfectly lucid, but at a greater distance all colours were blended into a most beautiful haze … Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle, 1839 He is able to recognize his wife in his lucid moments. those lucid bands that spread across the arctic sky and are known as the northern lights See More Recent Examples on the Web Eva Vitija’s documentary is lean and lucid and even at 84 minutes never feels hurried. Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Sep. 2022 For Wright’s astute and lucid outrage, his refusal to evade, his determination to make his readers hear, see, feel, think and want to act. New York Times, 7 Apr. 2022 The process is painful, but its results are unique—the Frank stories are both utterly foreign and purely lucid, a set of gnomic parables that always end in a puff of irony or ambiguity. Sam Thielman, The New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2022 In a lucid moment, her mother expresses shock at the sacrifices of her daughters. Jessica Ferri, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2022 On one hand, the whole thing is lucid and legible: humans and horses are individuated, not blurred together. Washington Post, 27 July 2022 Yet now, under the cloud of a new world war, Barr’s lucid celebration of the art that Hitler was trying to erase somehow electrified the city. Hugh Eakin, The Atlantic, 12 July 2022 Regardless of the style and formal ambition, all offer lucid glimpses into places where ordinary people face extraordinary challenges. Peter Keough, BostonGlobe.com, 26 May 2022 The first of these, written in a lucid, eagle-eyed style, chronicles the rise and rise of Benjamin Rask, an early-twentieth-century Wall Street titan. Jonathan Dee, Harper’s Magazine , 25 May 2022 See More
Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Sep. 2022 For Wright’s astute and lucid outrage, his refusal to evade, his determination to make his readers hear, see, feel, think and want to act. New York Times, 7 Apr. 2022 The process is painful, but its results are unique—the Frank stories are both utterly foreign and purely lucid, a set of gnomic parables that always end in a puff of irony or ambiguity. Sam Thielman, The New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2022 In a lucid moment, her mother expresses shock at the sacrifices of her daughters. Jessica Ferri, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2022 On one hand, the whole thing is lucid and legible: humans and horses are individuated, not blurred together. Washington Post, 27 July 2022 Yet now, under the cloud of a new world war, Barr’s lucid celebration of the art that Hitler was trying to erase somehow electrified the city. Hugh Eakin, The Atlantic, 12 July 2022 Regardless of the style and formal ambition, all offer lucid glimpses into places where ordinary people face extraordinary challenges. Peter Keough, BostonGlobe.com, 26 May 2022 The first of these, written in a lucid, eagle-eyed style, chronicles the rise and rise of Benjamin Rask, an early-twentieth-century Wall Street titan. Jonathan Dee, Harper’s Magazine , 25 May 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Latin lucidus, from lucēre — see lucent
First Known Use
1591, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Kids Definition
lucid
adjective
lu·cid ˈlü-səd
1
: having or showing the ability to think clearly
lucid behavior
2
: easily understood
lucid writing
Medical Definition
lucid
adjective
lu·cid ˈlü-səd
: having, showing, or characterized by an ability to think clearly and rationally
lucid
adjective
1
as in luminous
giving off or reflecting much light those lucid bands that spread across the arctic sky and are known as the northern lights Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- luminous
- dazzling
- glowing
- bright
- shining
- brilliant
- radiant
- shiny
- clear
- shimmering
- lucent
- sparkling
- lambent
- lustrous
- flickering
- flashing
- glittering
- splendid
- effulgent
- gleaming
- refulgent
- incandescent
- candescent
- blazing
- fulgent
- polished
- blinding
- glistening
- beaming
- fiery
- sheeny
- burning
- bedazzling
- flaming
- scintillating
- ardent
- sunny
- shined
- twinkling
- glimmering
- gemmy
- shimmery
- scintillant
- glancing
- winking
- combusting
- ablaze
- aglitter
- glinting
- glaring
- glistering
- agleam
- burnished
- coruscant
- flaring
- ultrabright
- superbright
- red-hot
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- dim
- dark
- dull
- sombre
- somber
- obscure
- lackluster
- gloomy
- dusky
- murky
- darkling
- darkened
- unlit
- lightless
- darkish
- dimmed
- blackened
- obscured
- cloudy
- shadowy
- tenebrous
- pale
- unbright
- darksome
- unbrilliant
- pitch-dark
- gray
- grey
- shady
- pitch-black
- leaden
- shadowlike
- palish
- sunless
2
as in stable
having full use of one's mind and control over one's actions decided to make out her will while she was still lucid Synonyms & Similar Words
- stable
- rational
- sane
- normal
- balanced
- clearheaded
- logical
- sensible
- coherent
- healthy
- reasonable
- compos mentis
- analytic
- levelheaded
- clear
- judicious
- right
- analytical
- sound
- wise
- even-keeled
- well-balanced
- unneurotic
- well-adjusted
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- mental
- demented
- delirious
- insane
- loopy
- mad
- unbalanced
- schizophrenic
- deranged
- unsound
- psychotic
- crazed
- maniacal
- nutty
- neurotic
- daffy
- paranoid
- crazy
- lunatic
- balmy
- delusional
- disordered
- wacky
- whacky
- schizoid
- disturbed
- loony
- strange
- moonstruck
- certifiable
- paranoic
- delusionary
- paranoiac
- aberrant
- screwy
- eccentric
- daft
- scatty
- crackpot
- cracked
- maniac
- fruity
- schizo
- dotty
- looney
- cuckoo
- batty
- wacko
- crackbrained
- meshuga
- psycho
- paranoidal
- nuts
- whacko
- irrational
- foolish
- odd
- bughouse
- queer
- oddball
- brainsick
- pixilated
- cranky
- gaga
- off
- hysterical
- loco
- witless
- meshugah
- unreasonable
- meshuggah
- frantic
- depressed
- meshugge
- frenzied
- distracted
- hysteric
- senseless
- despondent
- nuclear
- schizzy
- pixillated
- ballistic
- potty
- distraught
- berserk
- bananas
- schizy
- raving
- obsessive-compulsive
- monomaniacal
- haywire
- fixated
- obsessed
- monomaniac
- mixed-up
- wigged-out
- ape
- amuck
- amok
3
as in clear
not subject to misinterpretation or more than one interpretation tried to make his instructions as lucid as possible so that everyone would understand what to do Synonyms & Similar Words
- clear
- straightforward
- apparent
- obvious
- unmistakable
- evident
- distinct
- luminous
- perspicuous
- pellucid
- transparent
- unambiguous
- broad
- simple
- unequivocal
- manifest
- plain
- comprehensible
- intelligible
- visible
- ringing
- crystal clear
- patent
- barefaced
- unambivalent
- understandable
- palpable
- decided
- bald
- explicit
- clear-cut
- open-and-shut
- digestible
- graspable
- nonambiguous
- tangible
- luculent
- comprehendible
- bright-line
- noticeable
- sensible
- uncomplicated
- knowable
- readable
- tidy
- bald-faced
- trenchant
- recognizable
- observable
- appreciable
- perceptible
- legible
- overt
- fathomable
- discernible
- self-explanatory
- cognizable
- cognoscible
- undisguised
- clean
- decipherable
- clean-cut
- self-evident
- well-defined
- discernable
- black-and-white
- fair
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- cryptic
- ambiguous
- dark
- enigmatic
- mysterious
- equivocal
- obscure
- clouded
- unintelligible
- incomprehensible
- indistinct
- unclear
- enigmatical
- indecipherable
- subtle
- vague
- unknowable
- hazy
- unfathomable
- imperceptible
- impalpable
- unclarified
- sketchy
- insensible
- nebulous
- obfuscated
- nonobvious
- indefinite
- noncommittal
- cloudy
- misty
- indeterminate
- unapparent
- gray
- slippery
- grey
- murky
- gauzy
- inappreciable
- imprecise
- unreadable
- indiscernible
- illegible
- undecipherable
Synonym Chooser
The words clear and perspicuous are common synonyms of lucid. While all three words mean "quickly and easily understood," lucid suggests a clear logical coherence and evident order of arrangement.
a lucid explanation
While in some cases nearly identical to lucid, clear implies freedom from obscurity, ambiguity, or undue complexity.
clear instructions
The words perspicuous and lucid are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, perspicuous applies to a style that is simple and elegant as well as clear.
a perspicuous style