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''fluorescent'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260831172519-00-⌔

fluorescent - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Adjective

fluorescent (comparative more fluorescent, superlative most fluorescent)

  • Of or relating to fluorescence.
  • Exhibiting or produced by fluorescence.
    • ✤ The fluorescent plants shimmered in the darkness.
  • Emitting visible light as a result of the excitation of phosphors by ultraviolet photons produced by the passage of an electrical current through an inert gas infused with mercury.
    • ✤ The quality of fluorescent lighting technology has improved dramatically in recent years.
    • ✤ The shed, a steel-framed structure with a single-span roof devoid of intermediate support, is exceptionally well-lit by continuous glazing on the roof and along much of the sides, while there is fluorescent roof lighting for night work.1
    • ✤ Rather than burning out as incandescent bulbs do, L.E.D.’s light output dims over tens of thousands of hours. L.E.D.’s are also more resistant to vibration than incandescents or screw-in fluorescent bulbs, and do not flicker or hum.2
    • ✤ Then they backed the membrane with a gel matrix containing a perfluorocarbon (PFC) propellant and fluorescent “nanobullets” about a micron wide, and hit it with ultrasound.3
  • Vivid, as if fluorescing; neon.
    • ✤ Her shirt was fluorescent orange.

Noun

fluorescent (plural fluorescents)

  • A fluorescent light.
    • ✤ The fluorescents hummed day and night.
    • ✤ Compact fluorescents are typically rated at 7,500 to 10,000 hours, and incandescents at about 1,500 hours.4

Etymology

From fluoresce + -ent.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˌflʊəˈɹɛsənt/
  • Audio (Southern England): 🔊
  • (US) IPA: /flɔˈɹɛsənt/
  • Homophone: florescent, in some pronunciations
  • Rhymes: -ɛsənt

Printed 2026-08-31.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

  1. 1960 July, “New Eastern Region diesel depot at Finsbury Park”, in Trains Illustrated, pages 422–423: ↩

  2. 2007 March 1, Matthew L. Wald, “Room to Improve”, in The New York Times ‎, archived from the original on 3 June 2017: ↩

  3. 2016 January 14, Jessica Hall, “Nanoengineers build ‘microcannons’ that fire light-up bullets filled with drugs”, in ExtremeTech ‎: ↩

  4. 2007 March 1, Matthew L. Wald, “Room to Improve”, in The New York Times ‎, archived from the original on 3 June 2017: ↩

Link to original

Secondary

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