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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
luster
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ VERB
lose
▪ But more recently his results seems to have lost some of their luster.
▪ However, for Mr Hamlin, the Richmond bonds lost their luster in the repricing.
▪ As hospitals employ fewer registered nurses, nursing is losing some of its luster as a profession.
▪ Without adequate funds to reply on television, White said, Morales could lose some of his luster with voters.
▪ Second-term presidents historically lose their luster and energy by year six, and their party loses seats in Congress.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Beverly Hills has not lost its luster.
▪ Wax is sprayed on the apples to give them more luster.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ As hospitals employ fewer registered nurses, nursing is losing some of its luster as a profession.
▪ But more recently his results seems to have lost some of their luster.
▪ Colds, flu or any ailment that diminishes vocal stamina and luster are potentially disastrous.
▪ However, for Mr Hamlin, the Richmond bonds lost their luster in the repricing.
▪ Manufacturers are responding with blended traditional lines with subtle hits of luxury and luster.
▪ She stayed there till she married, adding her luster to the address.
▪ The grueling events of this century should long ago have stripped the luster from those two impostors.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Luster

Luster \Lus"ter\ Lustre \Lus"tre\, n. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.] A period of five years; a lustrum.

Both of us have closed the tenth luster.
--Bolingbroke.

Luster

Luster \Lus"ter\, Lustre \Lus"tre\, n. [F. lustre; cf. It. lustro; both fr. L. lustrare to purify, go about (like the priests at the lustral sacrifice), traverse, survey, illuminate, fr. lustrum a purificatory sacrifice; perh. akin to E. loose. But lustrare to illuminate is perhaps a different word, and akin to L. lucere to be light or clear, to shine. See Lucid, and cf. Illustrious, Lustrum.]

  1. Brilliancy; splendor; brightness; glitter.

    The right mark and very true luster of the diamond.
    --Sir T. More.

    The scorching sun was mounted high, In all its luster, to the noonday sky.
    --Addison.

    Note: There is a tendency to limit the use of luster, in this sense, to the brightness of things which do not shine with their own light, or at least do not blaze or glow with heat. One speaks of the luster of a diamond, or of silk, or even of the stars, but not often now of the luster of the sun, a coal of fire, or the like.

  2. Renown; splendor; distinction; glory.

    His ancestors continued about four hundred years, rather without obscurity than with any great luster.
    --Sir H. Wotton.

  3. A candlestick, chandelier, girandole, or the like, generally of an ornamental character.
    --Pope.

  4. (Min.) The appearance of the surface of a mineral as affected by, or dependent upon, peculiarities of its reflecting qualities.

    Note: The principal kinds of luster recognized are: metallic, adamantine, vitreous, resinous, greasy, pearly, and silky. With respect to intensity, luster is characterized as splendent, shining, glistening, glimmering, and dull.

  5. A substance which imparts luster to a surface, as graphite and some of the glazes.

  6. A fabric of wool and cotton with a lustrous surface, -- used for women's dresses.

    Luster ware, earthenware decorated by applying to the glazing metallic oxides, which acquire brilliancy in the process of baking.

Luster

Luster \Lust"er\, n. One who lusts.

Luster

Luster \Lus"ter\, Lustre \Lus"tre\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lustred; p. pr. & vb. n. Lustering, or Lustring.] To make lustrous. [R. & Poetic]

Flooded and lustered with her loosened gold.
--Lowell.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
luster

"gloss, radiance," 1520s, from Middle French lustre "gloss, radiance" (14c.), common Romanic (cognates: Spanish and Portuguese lustre, Rumanian lustru, Italian lustro "splendor, brilliancy"), from Latin lustrare "spread light over, brighten, illumine," related to lucere "shine," lux "light" (see light (n.)).

luster

"one who lusts," 1590s, agent noun from lust (v.).

Wiktionary
luster

Etymology 1 n. 1 shine, polish or sparkle. 2 By extension, brilliance, attractiveness or splendor. 3 refinement, polish or quality. 4 A candlestick, chandelier, girandole, etc. generally of an ornamental character. 5 A substance that imparts lustre to a surface, such as plumbago or a glaze. 6 A fabric of wool and cotton with a lustrous surface, used for women's dresses. vb. 1 (context intransitive English) To gleam, have luster. 2 (context transitive English) To give luster, distinguish. 3 (context transitive English) To give a coating or other treatment to impart physical luster. Etymology 2

n. A lustrum, quinquennium, a period of five years, originally the interval between Roman censuses. Etymology 3

n. One who lusts.

WordNet
luster
  1. n. a quality that outshines the usual [syn: lustre, brilliancy, splendor, splendour]

  2. the visual property of something that shines with reflected light [syn: shininess, sheen, lustre]

  3. a surface coating for ceramics or porcelain [syn: lustre]

Wikipedia
Luster (film)

Luster is a 2002 drama film written and directed by Everett Lewis. The film is about a weekend in the lives of a group of friends in the Los Angeles queer punk scene. Lewis sought to "infuse queerness" into the film as much as he could, so he cast a number of non-heterosexual actors and used music by a number of queer punk bands. Critical response to Luster was deeply divided.

Luster (surname)

Luster is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

  • Ahrue Luster, guitarist, also played the piano
  • Andrew Luster (born 1963), heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune and convicted multiple rapist
  • Betty Luster (1922–2011), American television actress, singer, and dancer
  • Dewey Luster (1899–1980), head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners college football team
  • Marv Luster (born 1937), Canadian Football League player
  • Scott Luster, women's volleyball coach
  • June Christy (1925–1990), American jazz singer born Shirley Luster
Luster (village)

Luster is a village in Luster Municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The village is located on the western shore of the Lustrafjorden, at the mouth of the river Dalsdalselvi. Norwegian County Road 55 runs through the village, which is about half-way between the villages of Skjolden and Nes. Dale Church was built in the village of Luster in 1240 and it is still in use.

Usage examples of "luster".

Luster in a nightshirt, his face unshaven and liberally spotted with calamine lotion.

The High Table on its dais was so far removed from the opposite end of the Hall that those who graced it could scarcely be expected to discern the countenances of those seated at the lower trestles, or even the central onesa state of affairs that, despite the blaze of countless girandoles, lusters, and candelabra, was exacerbated by the soft haze of steam and incense filling the air.

Sulla knew he would never attain, which only gave added luster to the humbler efforts of Quintus Gavius Myrto.

It was indeed a jacamar, of which the plumage shines with a metallic luster.

But at least the guns had brought a luster to his name, just as Kola predicted, He unwrapped the gin bottle, jammed the neck between his teeth and yanked the cork.

On the contrary, the passage of time had only added fresh luster to the legends of his swashbuckling days, in the wild times of Belit, the Shemitish she-pirate, and Red Ortho, and grim Zaporavo of Zingara.

His face was haggard, his eyes were vacant-looking and rimmed with red, his long yellow hair had lost most of its luster.

Forgers usually favored calcites and siderites to produce the characteristic pale or red-black luster of common fossils.

Her skin glowed with the soft luster of creamy satin, and through the cloth he saw the inward curve of her waist, amazingly small in its unlaced freedom, the trim and seductive roundness of her hips, and the lithe grace of her limbs.

Her hair was a mass of dark foam, at the burnished luster of which the dim light only hinted.

Some were casting aside immense shields, shields even larger than the glassy ones of the peltasts, though they shone with the luster of metal.

The coming siege had brought some good to someone, as the crowd of unfamiliar drinkers gathered in the Quiller s Mint proved, but it did take a bit of the luster offTin-wrights own advancement in the world.

These tiles are small and oblong, of every color under the sun, and possess an unapproached luster of glaze.

The buildings had been magnificently restored to their former luster by a host of Kundalan craftsfolk, much to the invidious talk of the other Bashkir families.

He would quarry the rock vein, provided it proved deep enough,, and become richly Dolley joined in the project wholeheartedly, tramping over the ground, securing rock samples, washing them, exulting when some displayed the beautiful pink-white luster of marble.