flickering
/flickering/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Shining unsteadily: Describes a light or flame that is not constant, but instead shines with quick, irregular changes in brightness or intensity. It often suggests a weak, wavering, or intermittent quality of light.
Usage
- The adjective "flickering" is used to describe the quality of a light source. It implies movement and instability in the light it emits. It is often used in descriptive writing to set a mood, such as one of uncertainty, eeriness, or a fragile, temporary source of illumination.
Examples
- Adjective:
- The only light in the cave came from a single flickering candle.
- We watched the flickering flames of the campfire as we told stories.
- The old television screen showed a flickering black-and-white image.
Advanced Usage
- "flickering hope/interest": Used metaphorically to describe a feeling or state that is weak, intermittent, and in danger of disappearing.
- Despite the setbacks, a flickering hope remained that they would be rescued.
- "flickering light": A very common collocation describing the unsteady light itself.
- The flickering light from the streetlamp cast strange shadows on the wall.
Variants and Related Words
- Flicker (verb): To shine with a light that is not steady; to burn or shine unsteadily.
- The lights flickered for a moment before going out completely.
- Flicker (noun): A quick, unsteady movement of light; a brief burst or fluctuation.
- There was a flicker of lightning in the distant sky.
Synonyms
- Guttering: (of a flame or light) flickering and about to go out.
- Wavering: shining with a faint, unsteady light.
- Twinkling: shining with a light that seems to flash on and off quickly.
Related Phrases
- Flicker out: (phrasal verb) To stop shining or burning gradually and unsteadily.
- The last embers of the fire flickered out in the early morning.
Adjective
- shining unsteadily