To show rainbowlike colors that shimmer or shift as the light or viewing angle changes.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- iridesce in the light
- iridescing wings
- iridescing surface
On the page
The beetle's wing cases iridesced green and violet as she turned it toward the window.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- iridesce
- Past tense
- iridesced
- Past participle
- iridesced
- Present participle
- iridescing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- iridesce
- Present continuous
- am/is/are iridescing
- Present perfect
- have/has iridesced
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been iridescing
- Past
- iridesced
- Past continuous
- was/were iridescing
- Past perfect
- had iridesced
- Past perfect continuous
- had been iridescing
- Future
- will iridesce
- Future continuous
- will be iridescing
- Future perfect
- will have iridesced
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been iridescing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: poetic / figurative / atmospheric. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: iridesce; iridesces; iridesced; iridesced; iridescing Commonness: rare (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: Established intransitive action word for rainbowlike color play; independent verb, not an inflection. Distinct from existing glisten/glitter, which do not require rainbow colors. Writing functions: atmospheric description, sensory precision. Third-person singular: iridesces.
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