diaphanous
adjective
Did you know?
Can you guess which of the following words come from the same Greek root as diaphanous?
A. epiphany B. fancy C. phenomenon D. sycophant E. emphasis F. phase
The Greek word phainein shows through more clearly in some of our quiz words than others, but it underlies all of them. The groundwork for diaphanous was laid when phainein (meaning "to show") was combined with dia- (meaning "through"). From that pairing came the Greek diaphanēs, parent of the Medieval Latin diaphanus, which is the direct ancestor of our English word.
Synonyms
- cobwebby
- filmy
- gauzelike
- gauzy
- gossamer
- gossamery
- see-through
- sheer
- transparent
Example Sentences
Violeta Valdés, Vogue, 30 Aug. 2022 The mascot’s diaphanous wings illuminate with the car’s lights. Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 4 Aug. 2022 In this zoomed in MIRI-NIRCam composite image of the Cosmic Cliffs, planet-forming rings of dust show up in pink and red around stars, and hydrocarbons give off a diaphanous glow much like clouds seen in Earth’s twilight sky. Fionna M. D. Samuels, Scientific American, 21 July 2022 Even the diaphanous chiton-like dresses that Maria Grazia does nearly every season feel like a special, possibly sacred code of femininity. Rachel Tashjian, Harper's BAZAAR, 6 July 2022 Varun Rana, who worked for Sabyasachi as an assistant designer in 2004, recalled walking with him through a local bazaar and stumbling on a diaphanous textile in crimson. New York Times, 22 June 2022 The baby, wearing a diaphanous dress of a pale blue color and a little white bow in her hair, which is the same red color as Prince Harry's hair, is pictured smiling happily on a lawn. Maria Puente, USA TODAY, 6 June 2022 Scrolling below us was a mesmerizing, diaphanous panorama of rainbow parrotfish and blue angelfish darting in and out of the reef. Tom Vanderbilt, Outside Online, 2 July 2019 The diaphanous sleeves that draped so elegantly off her shoulders were attached to the dress with an edgy metal collar. Sarah Spellings, Vogue, 5 May 2022 See More Word History
extension with -ous of Medieval Latin diafanus, diaphanus, borrowed from Greek diaphanḗs "transparent, manifest, conspicuous," adjective derivative from the stem of diaphaínein "to let be seen through," diaphaínesthai "to show through, be seen through," from dia- dia- + phaínein (active voice) "to bring to light, cause to appear," and phaínesthai (middle voice) "to become visible, come to light, appear" — more at fantasy entry 1
1614, in the meaning defined at sense 1
diaphanousness
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- insubstantiality
- frangibility
- wispiness
- exquisiteness
- daintiness
- fragility
- flimsiness
- fineness
- delicacy
- friability
- brittleness
- crumbliness
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- roughness
- coarseness
- rudeness
- solidity
- strength
- firmness
- crudeness
- crudity