glisten
/ˈɡlɪs(ə)n
/verb [no object]
(Of something wet or greasy) shine with a sparkling light: his cheeks glistened with tears (as adjective glistening) the glistening pavements...
- His beautiful dark eyes were glistening and a tear escaped running down his tanned cheek.
- The pale blue cobblestones glistened as the sun's rays sparkled on the light sheen of water.
- When his carriage had grown tiny at the gate, her eyes were still glistening with unshed tears of anger.
Synonyms
shine, sparkle, twinkle, glint, glitter, catch the light, glimmer, shimmer, glow, flicker, blink, wink, flash
literary glister
rare coruscate, scintillate, fulgurate, effulge, luminesce, incandesce, phosphoresce
noun [in singular]
A sparkling light reflected from something wet: there was a glisten of perspiration across her top lip...
- The fierce glisten of the candle caught the kitten's tawny eyes as she looked up.
- It was an uplifting ceremony which saw a glisten in many an eye!
- There was some guy, a curator, standing by me going, ‘the delicate brush strokes Vermeer used, look at the glisten on her lips, what do you see in her eyes?’
Origin
Old English glisnian, of Germanic origin; related to Middle Low German glisen. The noun dates from the mid 19th century.
Rhymes
- phenylene brown
- phenylenediamine
- phenylephrine
- phenyl ether
- phenylethylamine
- phenylglycol
- phenylhydrazine
- phenylhydrazone
- phenylic
- phenylic acid
- phenylimide
- phenylketonuria
- phenylketonuric
- phenylmercuric
- phenylmercuric acetate
- phenylmercuric nitrate
- phenylmercury
- phenylpropanolamine
- phenylpropiolic
- phenylpyruvate
- phenylpyruvic acid
- phenylthiocarbamide
- phenylthiourea
- phenylurea
- phenytoin