lambent

adj.

1. Flickering lightly over or on a surface: lambent moonlight.
2. Effortlessly light or brilliant: lambent wit.
3. Having a gentle glow; luminous. See synonyms at bright.

[Latin lambēns, lambent-, present participle of lambere, to lick.]

lambency lam'ben·cy n.
lambently lam'bent·ly adv.

(LAM-buhnt)

adjective
1. Flickering lightly over a surface.
2. Softly glowing.
3. Marked by lightness or grace (in an expression)

Etymology
From Latin lambent, stem of lambens, present participle of lambere (to lick).

Usage
"What started sometime in 1999 like a lambent flame snowballed into a big political conflagration and consequently entered a new chapter last Thursday with the decision of a faction of the party to decamp to the Alliance for Democracy (AD)." — Tokunbo Adedoja; Plateau PDP: The Battle Enters a New Chapter; This Day (Lagos, Nigeria); May 27, 2002.

"With that, he (Richard Hawley) launches into Baby, You're My Light, a grown-up love song of delicate beauty, featuring a lambent melody and a sonorous, deep vocal." — Alexis Petridis; Richard Hawley; The Guardian (London, UK); May 21, 2003.

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adjective

Giving off or reflecting light readily or in large amounts: beamy, bright, brilliant, effulgent, incandescent, irradiant, lucent, luminous, lustrous, radiant, refulgent, shiny. See light/darkness.

flickering; softly radiant; marked by brilliance of expression

IN BRIEF: Softly radiant. Also: Flickering.

The lambent flame of the candle lit the room dimly.