Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Capable of transmitting light so that objects or images can be seen as if there were no intervening material. synonym: clear.
- adjective Permeable to electromagnetic radiation of specified frequencies, as to visible light or radio waves.
- adjective So fine in texture that it can be seen through; sheer.
- adjective Easily seen through or detected; obvious.
- adjective Free from guile; candid or open.
- adjective Open to public scrutiny; not hidden or proprietary.
- adjective Obsolete Shining through; luminous.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Having the property of transmitting rays of light so that bodies situated beyond or behind can be distinctly seen; transmitting light-waves radiated from some source, without absorption or scattering; pervious to light; diaphanous; pellucid: as, transparent glass; a transparent diamond: opposed to opaque, and distinguished from
translucent . - Admitting the passage of light through interstices.
- Figuratively, easily seen through or understood; easily intelligible.
- Bright; shining; clear.
- Synonyms Bright, limpid, crystalline.
- noun A costume consisting of a dress of lace, tulle, gauze, or other thin fabric, worn over another dress of rich material. This fashion seems to have been introduced about 1675.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Having the property of transmitting rays of light, so that bodies can be distinctly seen through; pervious to light; diaphanous; pellucid; ; -- opposed to
opaque . - adjective Admitting the passage of light; open; porous.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective of a material or object
See-through ,clear ; having the property thatlight passes through it almost undisturbed, such that one cansee through it clearly. - adjective of a system or organization
Open ,public ; having the property thattheories andpractices arepublicly visible, therebyreducing the chance of corruption. - adjective
Obvious ; readilyapparent ;easy to see orunderstand .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective free of deceit
- adjective easily understood or seen through (because of a lack of subtlety)
- adjective transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity
- adjective so thin as to transmit light
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word transparent.
Examples
-
Van Eyck secured his drawing in dark, then threw a pale transparent middle tint over the whole, and recovered his _highest_ lights; all was _transparent_ except these.
On the Old Road Vol. 1 (of 2) A Collection of Miscellaneous Essays and Articles on Art and Literature John Ruskin 1859
-
Also we have -- what we call the transparent tour group vendors for our customers to make sure every customer that we know what exactly they would do during their leisure products itinerary.
-
Also we have -- what we call the transparent tour group vendors for our customers to make sure every customer that we know what exactly they would do during their leisure products itinerary.
-
Verizon Wireless done transparent from the start that the Droid smartphone was designed to put vigour upon Apple, the builder of the iPhone, as well as AT&T (T), the exclusive U.S. iPhone carrier.
RIM May Feel Android Effect | Hottest News at 365Daynews.Com admin 2009
-
Moreover, they are staffed by professionals who maintain transparent funding pipelines and reduce compliance challenges for partnering NGO's.
Ehsan Zaffar: SHINE Makes It Easy To Donate Stress-Free To Pakistani Flood Victims, Earthquake Victims In Haiti Ehsan Zaffar 2010
-
What should be transparent is the decision and its implementation.
-
Moreover, they are staffed by professionals who maintain transparent funding pipelines and reduce compliance challenges for partnering NGO's.
Ehsan Zaffar: SHINE Makes It Easy To Donate Stress-Free To Pakistani Flood Victims, Earthquake Victims In Haiti Ehsan Zaffar 2010
-
Verizon Wireless done transparent from the start that the Droid smartphone was designed to put vigour upon Apple, the builder of the iPhone, as well as AT&T (T), the exclusive U.S. iPhone carrier.
Archive 2009-12-01 admin 2009
-
Moreover, they are staffed by professionals who maintain transparent funding pipelines and reduce compliance challenges for partnering NGO's.
Ehsan Zaffar: SHINE Makes It Easy To Donate Stress-Free To Pakistani Flood Victims, Earthquake Victims In Haiti Ehsan Zaffar 2010
-
There are some stickers, which are not of very good quality and comprise of a thin transparent film which is printed with a design followed by a layer of top coat, which leads to the weakening of the glue and the fading of the design.
slumry commented on the word transparent
user transparent
June 20, 2007
gangerh commented on the word transparent
(fd) seeing your Dad move in with another woman.
(Thanks Graham Burgess)
January 24, 2008
knitandpurl commented on the word transparent
"The cold spiced beef with carrots made its appearance, couched by the Michelangelo of our kitchen upon enormous crystals of aspic, like transparent blocks of quartz."
-- Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin, Revised by D.J. Enright, p 39 of the Modern Library paperback edition
March 5, 2008
knitandpurl commented on the word transparent
"The grey light, falling like a fine rain, wove without ceasing a transparent web through which the Sunday strollers appeared in a silvery sheen."
--The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin, Revised by D.J. Enright, p 474 of the Modern Library paperback edition
September 2, 2008
mollusque commented on the word transparent
Contranymic: "open, visible" (the negotiations must be transparent so that everyone has the same information); "invisible" (the system upgrade should be transparent to the users).
January 3, 2009
qroqqa commented on the word transparent
'Opaque' is autantonymous for the same reason, which always slows me down: the interface is opaque to users, so that means, uh . . .
January 3, 2009
rolig commented on the word transparent
I don't see (pun intended) "transparent" as being contranymic or autantonymous. The core notion of transparency is that something becomes invisible so that something else can be visible. Etymologically, the word means "appearing through". When we say, "The negotiations should be transparent", we are using a kind of metonymy: the transparency refers to the framework of the negotiations, which should be "invisible" (not opaque), allowing us to see what is actually happening. To call the word "transparent" contranymic seems to flatten it into two opposing meanings, whereas it actually conveys a single metaphorical meaning that is whole, if complex.
January 3, 2009
sarra commented on the word transparent
rolig, I think that's how most, if not all autoantonyms work; that's why I'm not a fan of them and don't find them particularly fascinating. Each to their own, though.
January 3, 2009
rolig commented on the word transparent
I like contranyms, if the opposing meanings are truly well established and especially if they are etymologically distinct (like, I think, "cleave", the classic example of a contranym), or if they separated so long ago that their common origin is essentially forgotten, or when a certain use of a word is so counterintuitive as to be remarkable (e.g. the use of "commencement" to refer to a ceremony that marks the completion of one's education).
January 3, 2009
knitandpurl commented on the word transparent
"When I followed my instinct only, the jellyfish used to revolt me at Balbec; but if I had the eyes to regard them, like Michelet, from the standpoint of natural history and aesthetics, I saw an exquisite blue girandole. Are they not, with the transparent velvet of their petals, as it were the mauve orchids of the sea?"
--Sodom and Gomorrah by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin, revised by D.J. Enright, p 36 of the Modern Library paperback edition
January 24, 2009
knitandpurl commented on the word transparent
"The sun's rays fell upon my bed and passed through the transparent shell of my attenuated body, warmed me, made me glow like crystal."
--The Captive & The Fugitive by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin, revised by D.J. Enright, p 25 of the Modern Library paperback edition
December 25, 2009
knitandpurl commented on the word transparent
"The iron shutters of the baker's shop and of the dairy, which had been lowered last night over every possibility of feminine bliss, were now being raised, like the canvas of a ship that is getting under way and about to set sail across the transparent sea, on to a vision of young shopgirls."
--The Captive & The Fugitive by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin, revised by D.J. Enright, p 144 of the Modern Library paperback edition
January 7, 2010
knitandpurl commented on the word transparent
"Those passages which, when I wrote them, were so colourless in comparison with my thought, so complicated and opaque in comparison with my harmonious and transparent vision, so full of gaps which I had not managed to fill, that the reading of them was a torture to me, had only accentuated in me the sense of my own impotence and of my incurable lack of talent."
--The Captive & The Fugitive by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin, revised by D.J. Enright, p 770 of the Modern Library paperback edition
February 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word transparent
Contranym: invisible v. obvious.
March 14, 2010