Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 9, 2024 is:

fulgent • \FULL-jint\  • adjective

Fulgent is a formal, often poetic word used to describe something that is dazzlingly bright. It is a synonym of radiant.

// After a long, drizzly morning, a fulgent sun finally peeked out from behind the clouds.

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Examples:

"He [Kendrick Lamar] starts rapping a verse with his back to the crowd. … On giant screens behind him, you can see the chrome embellishments along the outseam of his pants, and one of his handles, 'oklama,' emblazoned in bold white Old English letters across the back of his black vest, the yellow gradient of his sunglasses, the fulgent glint of his diamond earrings." — Mitchell S. Jackson, The New York Times, 1 Jan. 2023

Did you know?

"The weary Sun betook himself to rest; — / Then issued Vesper from the fulgent west." That's how the appearance of the evening star in the glowing western sky at sunset looked to 19th-century poet William Wordsworth. Fulgent was a particularly apt choice to describe the dazzling light of the sky at sunset. The word comes from the Latin verb fulgēre, meaning "to shine brightly." While not the most common of descriptors, English speakers have been using fulgent to depict radiant splendor since at least the 15th century.

By Christian J. Collier