sheen.

1. A smooth, gentle shine on a surface.

2. An attractive surface impression that may hide a less appealing reality.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• silvery sheen
• sheen of moisture

On the page

A sheen of moisture covered the handrail.

Usage notes

Primary category: sensory / description. Forms: Singular sheen; plural sheens. 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. Commonness: moderately common.