sheen

/ʃin/

/ʃin/

Other forms: sheens

A sheen is a quality of things that are shiny, usually with reflected light. Anything that shines has a sheen, like satin in candlelight or a beautiful head of hair.

Shakespeare loved using words in fresh new ways, and he did that with the adjective for sheen (for “beautiful, bright”) in Hamlet. He used sheen as a noun, and it’s been that way ever since. A sheen is a luster that happens because of reflected light. A well-polished table has a sheen, as does a car that's just been washed. Shined shoes have a sheen. If it’s shiny and beautiful, it has a sheen.

Definitions of sheen

1. noun

   the visual property of something that shines with reflected light
   synonyms: luster, lustre, shininess

   type of:

   effulgence, radiance, radiancy, refulgence, refulgency, shine

   the quality of being bright and sending out rays of light