gilt
/gilt/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Having the color of gold: Describing something that has a deep, slightly brownish-yellow color resembling that of gold.
- Covered with a thin layer of gold: Describing an object that has been coated or overlaid with gold or a gold-like substance.
Noun:
- A coating of gold or a gold-colored substance: A thin layer of gold, or a material that imitates the appearance of gold, applied to a surface.
- Young female pig: (A specialized, less common meaning) A young sow that has not yet farrowed.
Usage and Examples
Adjective:
- The church's dome was gilt, shining brilliantly in the sun.
- She admired the gilt frame of the antique mirror.
Noun (coating):
- The gilt on the picture frame was starting to wear off.
- The statue was not solid gold, but it had a fine layer of gilt.
Noun (animal):
- The farmer separated the gilts from the boars in the pen.
Advanced Usage and Notes
- "To take the gilt off the gingerbread": This is an idiom meaning to spoil the illusion, to reveal the disappointing reality behind an attractive appearance.
- Finding out the job had such long hours really took the gilt off the gingerbread.
- The adjective gilt is often used in art, architecture, and decoration to describe surfaces that are gold-leafed or gold-painted.
- As a noun referring to a coating, it is often used in the context of restoration and antiques.
Variants and Related Words
- Gild (verb): To cover thinly with gold.
- Artisans were hired to gild the ceiling.
- Gilded (adjective): Covered with a thin layer of gold; often used metaphorically to mean wealthy or deceptively attractive.
- They lived in the gilded world of high society.
- Gilt-edged (adjective): Literally having edges trimmed with gold; figuratively, of the highest quality or reliability (often used for securities).
- He invested in gilt-edged bonds.
Synonyms
- Adjective (color): Golden, aureate, gold-colored.
- Adjective (coated): Gold-plated, gilded, gold-leafed.
- Noun (coating): Gliding, gold leaf, veneer.
Antonyms
- Adjective: Tarnished, dull, unadorned.
- Noun (coating): Base metal, undercoat.
Adjective
- having the deep slightly brownish color of gold
- long aureate (or golden) hair
- a gold carpet
Noun
- a coating of gold or of something that looks like gold