Syn. -- Glistening; bright; radiant; resplendent; effulgent; lustrous; brilliant; glittering; splendid; illustrious. -- Shining, Brilliant, Sparking. Shining describes the steady emission of a strong light, or the steady reflection of light from a clear or polished surface. Brilliant denotes a shining of great brightness, but with gleams or flashes. Sparkling implies a fitful, intense shining from radiant points or sparks, by which the eye is dazzled. The same distinctions obtain when these epithets are figuratively applied. A man of shining talents is made conspicious by possessing them; if they flash upon the mind with a peculiarly striking effect, we call them brilliant; if his brilliancy is marked by great vivacity and occasional intensity, he is sparkling.

True paradise . . . inclosed with shining rock. Milton.

Some in a brilliant buckle bind her waist,
Some round her neck a circling light display. Gay.

His sparkling blade about his head he blest. Spenser.