Glinty

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Reflecting light in small, brief flashes or sparkles, often with a sharp or metallic quality
2. Shining with momentary flashes of light that can appear sharp or reflective in nature
3. Emitting brief, sparkling reflections of light that often possess a sharp and shimmering quality

Etymology: "Glinty" is a simple formation: it is the adjective "glint" with the suffix "-y", which turns a noun or verb into a description of something that has or shows that quality. So a glinty surface is one full of glints, much as a "stony" path is one full of stones or a "bloody" knife is one covered in blood. "Glint" itself is the more interesting part of the story. It is a word that has been around in English long enough to shift its emphasis, moving from a sense of a quick, sudden movement toward the sharp, brief flash of light it describes now. The suffix, meanwhile, is one of the most productive endings in English, which is why new descriptive adjectives can be built from almost any noun that names a visible quality.

Synonyms: shiny, sparkling, glimmering, glittering, luminous

Antonyms: dull, matte, faded, dim, lackluster