Light, strictly denoting a form of radiant energy, is used as a general term for any luminous effect discernible by the eye, from the faintest phosphorescence to the blaze of the noonday sun. A flame is both hot and luminous; if it contains few solid particles it will yield little light, tho it may afford intense heat, as in the case of a hydrogen-flame. A blaze is an extensive, brilliant flame. A flare is a wavering flame or blaze; a flash is a light that appears and disappears in an instant; as, a flash of lightning; the flash of gunpowder. The glare and glow are steady, the glare painfully bright, the glow subdued; as, the glare of torches; the glow of dying embers. Shine and shining refer to a steady or continuous emission of light; sheen is a faint shining, usually by reflection. Glimmer, glitter, and shimmer denote wavering light. We speak of the glimmer of distant lamps through the mist; of the shimmer of waves in sunlight or moonlight. A gleam is not wavering, but transient or intermittent; a sudden gleam of light came through the half-open door; a glitter[232] is a hard light; as, the glitter of burnished arms. A sparkle is a sudden light, as of sparks thrown out; scintillation is the more exact and scientific term for the actual emission of sparks, also the figurative term for what suggests such emission; as, scintillations of wit or of genius. Twinkle and twinkling are used of the intermittent light of the fixed stars. Glistening is a shining as from a wet surface. Illumination is a wide-spread, brilliant light, as when all the windows of a house or of a street are lighted. The light of incandescence is intense and white like that from metal at a white heat.
Antonyms:
| blackness, | darkness, | dusk, | gloominess, | shade, |
| dark, | dimness, | gloom, | obscurity, | shadow. |
LIKELY.
Synonyms:
| apt, | conceivable, | liable, | probable, |
| credible, | conjectural, | presumable, | reasonable. |
Apt implies a natural fitness or tendency; an impetuous person is apt to speak hastily. Liable refers to a contingency regarded as unfavorable; as, the ship was liable to founder at any moment. Likely refers to a contingent event regarded as very probable, and usually, tho not always, favorable; as, an industrious worker is likely to succeed. Credible signifies readily to be believed; as, a credible narrative; likely in such connection is used ironically to signify the reverse; as, a likely story! A thing is conceivable of which the mind can entertain the possibility; a thing is conjectural which is conjectured as possible or probable without other support than a conjecture, or tentative judgment; a thing is presumable which, from what is antecedently known, may betaken for granted in advance of proof. Reasonable in this connection signifies such as the reason can be satisfied with, independently of external grounds for belief or disbelief; as, that seems a reasonable supposition. Compare [APPARENT].
Antonyms:
| doubtful, | improbable, | questionable, | unreasonable. |
| dubious, | incredible, | unlikely, |