What does incandescent mean?
Word: Incandescent
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Incandescent means giving out bright light because of being very hot.
Synonyms: glowing, luminous
How do you spell incandescent?
Syllables: in - can - des - cent
Tricky part: The s sound near the end is written sc, and the c is the letter pupils lose, which gives incandesent. Others keep the c and drop the s, writing incandecent.
Watch out for: incandesent, incandecent, incandescant
Memory tip: Give the word a sniff: it finishes with scent, the word for a pleasant smell.
Incandescent in a sentence
Example 1: The Sun is a huge incandescent ball of gas.
Example 2: At the steel plant in Jamshedpur, we watched an incandescent bar slide along the rollers.
Example 3: The potter peered into the kiln and watched the clay pots turn incandescent.
Fun Fact
Thomas Edison's famous lamp of 1879 was an incandescent bulb, and the thread that glowed in his first long-lasting test was charred cotton.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
inc_nd_scent
a) a, e
b) e, e
c) a, i
d) o, e
Show answer
a) a, e. Both gaps hold plain vowels that fast speech blurs: an a after the c and an e after the d.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
Through the furnace door at Firozabad we could see an scitancdneen mass of molten glass.
a) incandescent
b) iridescent
c) independent
d) insignificant
Show answer
a) incandescent. Twelve letters with two c letters and no r, p or g leave only one word that uses them all.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word incandescent as used in the sentence:
Incandescent lava crept down the side of the volcano after dark.
a) radiant
b) blazing
c) gleaming
d) dull
Show answer
d) dull. Lava that gave no light would be dull; the other three all describe something shining strongly.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning.
1. incandescent 2. transparant 3. flourescent 4. phosforescent
a) shining softly in the dark
b) hot enough to shine
c) clear enough to see through
d) giving off a very bright electric light
Show answer
b) hot enough to shine. Transparent ends in ent, fluorescent opens with fluo and phosphorescent has ph in place of the f, so only the heat word stands.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these would a scientist call incandescent?
a) the reflector on a bicycle wheel
b) the full moon on a clear night
c) the white-hot wire in an old bulb
d) the firefly flashing in the garden
Show answer
c) the white-hot wire in an old bulb
2. A metalworker calls a bar of iron incandescent. What has happened to it?
a) It has been painted a bright colour.
b) It has been cooled in cold water.
c) It has been polished until it shines.
d) It has been heated until it glows.
Show answer
d) It has been heated until it glows.
