Share This

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
light (noun)
1.
a) something that makes vision possible
b) the sensation aroused by stimulation of the visual receptors
c) electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength that travels in a vacuum with a speed of about 186,281 miles (300,000 kilometers) per second , specifically such radiation that is visible to the human eye
2.
a) - daylight
b) - dawn
3.
a source of light as
a) a celestial body
b) - candle
c) an electric light
4.
archaic - sight
5.
a) spiritual illumination
b) - inner light
c) - enlightenment
d) - truth
6.
a) public knowledge - facts brought to light
b) a particular aspect or appearance presented to view - saw the matter in a different light
7.
a particular illumination
8.
something that enlightens or informs - shed some light on the problem
9.
a medium (as a window) through which light is admitted
10.
a set of principles, standards, or opinions - worship according to one's lights Adrienne Koch
11.
a noteworthy person in a particular place or field - a leading light among current writers
12.
a particular expression of the eye
13.
a) - lighthouse beacon
b) - traffic light
14.
the representation of light in art
15.
a flame for something (as a cigarette) - lighting
light (adjective)
1.
having light - bright a light airy room
2.
a) not dark, intense, or swarthy in color or coloring - pale
b) of colors medium in saturation and high in - lightness light blue
3.
of coffee served with extra milk or cream
light (verb)
intransitive verb
1.
to become light - brighten usually used with up her face lit up
2.
to take fire
3.
transitive verb
to ignite something (as a cigarette) - often used with up
1.
to set fire to
2.
a) to conduct with a light - guide
b) - illuminate rockets light up the sky
c) - animate brighten a smile lit up her face
light (adjective)
1.
a) having little weight not heavy
b) designed to carry a comparatively small load - a light truck
c) having relatively little weight in proportion to bulk - aluminum is a light metal
d) containing less than the legal, standard, or usual weight - a light coin
2.
a) of little importance - trivial
b) not abundant - light rain a light lunch
3.
a) easily disturbed - a light sleeper
b) exerting a minimum of force or pressure - gentle a light touch
c) resulting from a very slight pressure - faint light print
4.
a) easily endurable - a light illness
b) requiring little effort - light work
5.
capable of moving swiftly or nimbly - light on his feet
6.
a) - frivolous light conduct
b) lacking in stability - changeable light opinions
c) sexually promiscuous
7.
free from care - cheerful
8.
less powerful but usually more mobile than usual for its kind - light cavalry a light cruiser
9.
a) made with a lower calorie content or with less of some ingredient (as salt, fat, or alcohol) than usual
b) having a relatively mild flavor
10.
a) easily digested - a light soup
b) well leavened - a light crust
11.
coarse and sandy or easily pulverized - light soil
12.
- dizzy giddy felt light in the head
13.
intended chiefly to entertain - light verse light comedy
14.
a) carrying little or no cargo - the ship returned light
b) producing goods for direct consumption by the consumer - light industry
15.
not bearing a stress or accent - a light syllable
16.
having a clear soft quality - a light voice
17.
being in debt to the pot in a poker game - three chips light
18.
- short light on experience
19.
- casual occasional a light smoker easy
light (adverb)
1.
- lightly
2.
with little baggage - travel light
light (verb)
intransitive verb
1.
- dismount
2.
- settle alight a bird lit on the lawn
3.
to fall unexpectedly - usually used with on or upon
4.
to arrive by chance - happen usually used with on or upon lit upon a solution
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
light (adjective)
1.
having little weight
SYNONIMS:
featherlight, feathery, lightweight, underweight, weightless
RELATED WORDS:
bantam, diminutive, little, minute, puny, small, smallish, tiny, undersized ( undersize), wee; flimsy, fragile, insubstantial; petite, slender, slight, slim, thin
NEAR ANTONYMS:
big, considerable, extensive, goodly, great, handsome, huge, hulking, jumbo, king-size ( king-sized), large, largish, massive, overscale ( overscaled), oversize ( oversized), sizable ( sizeable), substantial, super, voluminous, whacking; bulky, cumbersome, unwieldy
heavy, hefty, leaden, overweight, ponderous, weighty
light (adjective)
2.
involving minimal difficulty or effort
SYNONIMS:
cheap, downhill, effortless, facile, fluent, fluid, hands-down, light, painless, ready, royal, simple, smooth, snap, soft
RELATED WORDS:
idiotproof, mindless, quick, straightforward, unchallenging, uncomplicated; apparent, clear, clear-cut, distinct, evident, manifest, obvious, open-and-shut, palpable, patent, perspicuous, plain, transparent, unambiguous, unequivocal, unmistakable
NEAR ANTONYMS:
burdensome, exhausting, onerous, oppressive, painful, stressful, taxing, troublesome; abstruse, complex, complicated, intricate, involved, knotty, problematic ( problematical), recondite
arduous, demanding, difficult, exacting, formidable, grueling ( gruelling), hard, herculean, killer, labored, laborious, murderous, rough, severe, stiff, strenuous, toilful, toilsome, tough
light (adjective)
3.
less plentiful than what is normal, necessary, or desirable
SYNONIMS:
exiguous, hand-to-mouth, light, niggardly, poor, scant, scanty, scarce, skimp, skimpy, slender, slim, spare, sparing, sparse, stingy
RELATED WORDS:
deficient, inadequate, insufficient, lacking, short, wanting; bare, bare-bones; least, littlest, lowest, mere, minimal, slightest; slight, small, thin; barren, infertile, sterile, unfruitful, unproductive
NEAR ANTONYMS:
adequate, enough, satisfactory, sufficient, tolerable; fat, fecund, fertile, fruitful, prolific, rich; lavish, luxuriant; blooming, bursting, flourishing, proliferative, swarming, teeming, thriving; excess, extra, surplus
abundant, ample, bountiful, copious, generous, liberal, plenteous, plentiful
light (adjective)
4.
moving easily
SYNONIMS:
agile, featly, feline, gracile, light, light-footed ( light-foot), lightsome, lissome ( lissom), lithe, lithesome, nimble, spry
RELATED WORDS:
acrobatic, flexible, limber, loose-jointed, pliable, pliant, supple; adroit, deft, dexterous ( dextrous), light-fingered; fleet-footed, sure-footed; athletic, balletic, coordinated
NEAR ANTONYMS:
uncoordinated; inflexible, rigid, stiff; bungling, inept, maladroit
awkward, clumsy, gawky, graceless, klutzy, lumbering, ungainly, ungraceful
light (adjective)
5.
not harsh or stern especially in nature or effect
SYNONIMS:
balmy, benign, bland, delicate, light, mellow, mild, nonabrasive, soft, soothing, tender
RELATED WORDS:
calm, pacific, peaceful, placid, quiet, serene, tranquil; clement, compassionate, easy, lenient, merciful; buffering, cushioning, emollient, softening; sleek, slick, smooth
NEAR ANTONYMS:
exquisite, fierce, intense, powerful, severe; forceful, forcible, savage, violent; roughened, rugged, strong; abrading, irritating, roughening; grim, gruff, rude, stiff; heavy-handed, oppressive, pitiless, tyrannical ( tyrannic)
abrasive, caustic, coarse, hard, harsh, rough, scathing, stern, ungentle
light (adjective)
6.
resembling air in lightness
SYNONIMS:
ethereal, fluffy, gossamer, gossamery, light
RELATED WORDS:
cobwebby, dainty, delicate, diaphanous, downy, feathery, flimsy, gauzelike, gauzy, insubstantial, tender, wispy; buoyant, lighter-than-air, lightweight, rarefied, unsubstantial, vaporous, weightless; cumulous, pillowy
NEAR ANTONYMS:
firm, solid, substantial; bulky, burdensome, cumbersome, hefty, hulking, lumpish, ponderous, unwieldy, weighty
heavy, leaden
light (verb)
1.
to set (something) on fire
SYNONIMS:
enkindle, fire, ignite, inflame ( enflame), kindle, light, torch
RELATED WORDS:
immolate; deflagrate; char, frizzle, scorch; bake, broil, cook; ash, cremate, incinerate, kiln; set off; brighten, illuminate, illumine, irradiate, lighten, radiate; scald, scathe, sear; reignite, rekindle, relight; bank, stoke
NEAR ANTONYMS:
choke, smother, suffocate; stamp (out); blacken, darken, dim, dull, obscure
douse ( dowse), extinguish, put out, quench, snuff (out)
light (verb)
2.
to supply with light
SYNONIMS:
bathe, beacon, emblaze, illume, illumine, irradiate, light, lighten
RELATED WORDS:
brighten; beam, beat (down), radiate, shine; enhalo, halo; floodlight; highlight, spotlight; blaze, burn, fire, flame, glare, glow, ignite, incinerate, kindle; bedazzle, blind, daze, dazzle; gleam, glisten, glitter
NEAR ANTONYMS:
dim, dull, obscure; cover, shroud, veil; douse ( dowse), extinguish, put out, quench, snuff (out)
blacken, darken, obfuscate
light (adjective)
1.
filled with much light
SYNONIMS:
ablaze, alight, brightened, illuminated, illumined, light, lightsome, lit ( lighted)
RELATED WORDS:
floodlit ( floodlighted), highlighted, spotlighted ( spotlit); ignited, kindled; moonlit, shiny, sunlit, sunny, sunshiny
NEAR ANTONYMS:
gloomy, somber ( sombre), sunless; cloudy, murky, obscured, shadowlike, shadowy; gray ( grey), leaden, pale; lightproof
blackened, dark, darkened, darkish, darkling, dimmed, dusk, dusky, lightless, pitch-black, pitch-dark, tenebrous, unlit
light (adjective)
2.
lacking intensity of color
SYNONIMS:
dull, dulled, faded, light, pastel, washed-out, washy
RELATED WORDS:
flat, lackluster, lusterless, matte ( mat matt); dim, faint; dirty, muddy; achromatic, colorless, uncolored, undyed, unpainted, unstained; blanched, bleached, washed, white, whitened; gray ( grey), indistinct, neutral
NEAR ANTONYMS:
bright, brilliant, vibrant, vivid; chromatic, colored, dyed, painted, stained, tinged, tinted; colorful, motley, multicolored, polychromatic, polychrome, prismatic, rainbow, varicolored, variegated; flashy, garish, gaudy, loud, showy, splashy
dark, deep, gay, rich
light (adjective)
3.
of light complexion
SYNONIMS:
light
RELATED WORDS:
ashen, ashy, pale, paled, palish, pallid, pasty, peaked, peaky, sallow, sallowish, wan, white
black, brunet ( brunette), dark, swart, swarthy
light (verb)
1.
to come to rest after descending from the air
SYNONIMS:
land, light, perch, roost, settle, touch down
RELATED WORDS:
belly-land, crash-land
NEAR ANTONYMS:
arise, ascend, climb, rise; float, fly, glide, plane, soar, wing; hang, hover
blast off, take off
light (verb)
2.
to come down from something (as a vehicle)
SYNONIMS:
descend, disembark, dismount, get down, light
RELATED WORDS:
deplane, detrain
NEAR ANTONYMS:
board, climb (aboard), get in, mount; enplane ( emplane), entrain
embark
light (noun)
1.
the steady giving off of the form of radiation that makes vision possible
SYNONIMS:
blaze, flare, fluorescence, glare, gleam, glow, illumination, incandescence, luminescence, radiance, shine
RELATED WORDS:
flash, glimmer, glint, glitter, scintillation, shimmer, sparkle, twinkle; daylight, moonlight, sunlight, sunshine; afterglow, aureole ( aureola), aurora, beam, halo, ray, shaft, streak, stream, sunbeam; glisten, gloss, luster ( lustre), polish, reflection, sheen
NEAR ANTONYMS:
blackness, dark, darkness, dimness, dusk, duskiness, gloom, night, shadow
light (noun)
2.
something that provides illumination
SYNONIMS:
beacon, illuminant, lamp
RELATED WORDS:
arc lamp ( arc light), candelabra, candelabrum, candle, chandelier, dark lantern, electric, flare, flash, flashbulb, flashcube, flashlight, floodlight, fluorescent lamp, gaslight, gasolier, girandole, headlight, incandescent lamp, klieg light ( kleig light), lantern, light bulb, lighthouse, lighting, sconce, spotlight, streetlight, sun lamp
light (noun)
3.
a person who is widely known and usually much talked about
SYNONIMS:
big name, cause célèbre ( cause celebre), celeb, figure, icon ( ikon), light, luminary, megastar, name, notability, notable, notoriety, personage, personality, somebody, standout, star, superstar, VIP
RELATED WORDS:
favorite, heartthrob, hero, idol; demigod, dignitary, eminence, immortal, monument, pillar, worthy; baron, big shot, bigwig, kahuna, magnate, mogul, nabob, panjandrum
NEAR ANTONYMS:
lightweight, mediocrity; has-been
nobody, noncelebrity
light (noun)
4.
the first appearance of light in the morning or the time of its appearance
SYNONIMS:
aurora, cockcrow, dawning, day, daybreak, daylight, light, morn, morning, sun, sunrise, sunup
RELATED WORDS:
daytime; forenoon
NEAR ANTONYMS:
dark, darkness, midnight, night, nighttime; afternoon, midday; dusk, evening, eventide, gloaming, twilight
nightfall, sundown, sunset
light (verb)
to come upon unexpectedly or by chance
SYNONIMS:
chance (upon), encounter, find, hit (upon), light (on upon), meet, pitch (upon), stumble (on onto), tumble (upon)
RELATED WORDS:
luck (out, on, onto, into); confront, face; discover, strike, turn up

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This