Adjacent Words

Diaphanous definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DIAPHANOUS, a. [See supra.] Having power to transmit rays of light, as glass; pellucid; transparent; clear.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: so thin as to transmit light; "a hat with a diaphanous veil"; "filmy wings of a moth"; "gauzy clouds of dandelion down"; "gossamer cobwebs"; "sheer silk stockings"; "transparent chiffon"; "vaporous silks" [syn: diaphanous, filmy, gauzy, gauze-like, gossamer, see-through, sheer, transparent, vaporous, vapourous, cobwebby]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Medieval Latin diaphanus, from Greek diaphan?s, from diaphainein to show through, from dia- + phainein to show — more at fancy Date: 1614 1. characterized by such fineness of texture as to permit seeing through <diaphanous fabrics> 2. characterized by extreme delicacy of form ; ethereal <painted diaphanous landscapes> 3. insubstantial, vague <had only a diaphanous hope of success> • diaphanously adverb • diaphanousness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (of fabric etc.) light and delicate, and almost transparent. Derivatives: diaphanously adv. Etymology: med.L diaphanus f. Gk diaphanes (as DIA-, phaino show)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Diaphanous Di*aph"a*nous, a. [Gr. ?, fr. ? to show or shine through; dia` through + ? to show, and in the passive, to shine: cf. F. diaphane. See Phantom, and cf. Diaphane, Diaphanic.] Allowing light to pass through, as porcelain; translucent or transparent; pellucid; clear. Another cloud in the region of them, light enough to be fantastic and diaphanous. --Landor.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Diaphanous cloth is very thin and almost transparent. (LITERARY) ...a diaphanous dress of pale gold. ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Transparent, translucent, pellucid, clear.

Moby Thesaurus

airy, attenuate, attenuated, boyish, clear, clear as crystal, cloudless, crystal, crystal-clear, crystalline, delicate, diaphane, diluted, ethereal, filmy, fine, fine-drawn, finespun, flimsy, frail, gauzy, girlish, gossamer, gossamery, gracile, insubstantial, lacy, light, light-pervious, lightish, lightsome, limpid, lucent, lucid, luculent, misty, nonopaque, papery, peekaboo, pellucid, rare, rarefied, relucent, revealing, see-through, serene, sheer, slender, slenderish, slight, slight-made, slim, slimmish, slinky, small, subtle, svelte, sylphlike, tenuous, thin, thin-bodied, thin-set, thin-spun, thinnish, threadlike, translucent, translucid, transparent, transpicuous, unclouded, unobscured, vague, wasp-waisted, watered, watered-down, watery, weak, willowy, wiredrawn, wispy