coruscate

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 9, 2024 is: coruscate \KOR-uh-skayt\ verb To coruscate is to give off or reflect light in bright beams or flashes. Coruscate is used as a synonym of [sparkle](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sparkle) and may also be used to mean "to be brilliant or showy in technique or style." // She placed a bid on a classic car from the 1950s, [replete](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/replete) with yards of coruscating chrome. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coruscate) Examples: "The show is beautifully laid out. It's installed in a small, dark, semicircular gallery, with jewelry in vitrines spotlighted against a black [acetate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acetate) and Plexiglas. The diamonds glint and coruscate as you move across the displays." — Seph Rodney, The New York Times, 2 Sept. 2024 Did you know? "You're a shining star / No matter who you are." So sang the band [Earth, Wind & Fire](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Earth-Wind-and-Fire) on their 1975 hit "Shining Star," which is not only a coruscating gem of funk and soul but one that serves as a handy (and catchy) way to remember the dual uses of the verb coruscate. This formal-sounding synonym of [sparkle](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sparkle) comes from the Latin verb coruscare, meaning "to flash." Originally, coruscate was used only literally, applied when things—such as, well, shining stars—glitter or gleam, as when [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nathaniel-Hawthorne) wrote in his 1852 short story about a scarecrow, "Feathertop," that "the star kept coruscating on Feathertop's breast…." Eventually, coruscate gained figurative use, applying to those human shining stars who may be said to have a "coruscating wit" or "coruscating brilliance," or to things (such as satires, performances, or prose) that are metaphorically brilliant.