opalescence.

A milky or translucent appearance with soft, shifting colors like those of an opal.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• milky opalescence
• opalescence of the glass

On the page

The glass had an opalescence that changed near the window.

Usage notes

Primary category: sensory / description. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description. Commonness: moderately common.