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opaque. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
opaque, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
opaque in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
opaque you have here. The definition of the word
opaque will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
opaque, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English opake, from Latin opacus (“shaded, shady, dark”) (of unknown origin), later reinforced from Middle French opaque. Doublet of ubac.
Pronunciation
Adjective
opaque (comparative more opaque or opaquer, superlative most opaque or opaquest) (see usage notes)
- Neither reflecting nor emitting light.
1968, Isaac Asimov, Photosynthesis, Basic Books, Inc., page 60:We have agreed that heat is energy to begin with. Light is also a form of energy for when absorbed by any opaque substance it turns completely into heat.
- Allowing little light to pass through, not translucent or transparent.
- (figuratively) Unclear, unintelligible, hard to get or explain the meaning of.
- (figuratively) Obtuse, stupid.
- (computing) Describes a type for which higher-level callers have no knowledge of data values or their representations; all operations are carried out by the type's defined abstract operators.
Usage notes
- The comparative opaquer and superlative opaquest, though formed following valid rules for English, are much less common than more opaque and most opaque and seem to occur more frequently in poetry.
- Most opaque has been more common than opaquest for at least two centuries and 50 to 100 times more common in the last two decades, according to this Google Ngram comparison.
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
neither reflecting nor emitting light
hindering light to pass through
- Arabic: أَكْمَد m (ʔakmad)
- Belarusian: непразры́сты (njeprazrýsty)
- Bulgarian: непрозрачен (bg) (neprozračen)
- Catalan: opac (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 不透明 (zh) (bù tòumíng)
- Czech: neprůhledný m
- Dutch: opaak (nl), ondoorschijnend, ondoorzichtig (nl)
- Finnish: läpinäkymätön (fi), läpikuultamaton
- French: opaque (fr) m or f
- Galician: opaco
- Georgian: გაუმჭვირვალე (gaumč̣virvale), შუქგაუმტარი (šukgaumṭari)
- German: undurchsichtig (de), undurchlässig (de), opak (de), blickdicht (de)
- Greek: αδιαφανής (el) (adiafanís)
- Hungarian: átlátszatlan (hu)
- Icelandic: ógagnsær
- Italian: opaco (it) m, opaca (it) f
- Japanese: 不透明な (ja) (ふとうめいな, futōmei-na)
- Korean: 불투명(不透明)한 (bultumyeonghan)
- Latvian: necaurredzams, necaurspīdīgs
- Malay: legap
- Maori: puatakore
- Norwegian: opak, ugjennomsiktig (no), ugjennomskinnelig (no)
- Occitan: opac (oc)
- Polish: nieprzezroczysty (pl), nieprzejrzysty
- Portuguese: opaco (pt) m
- Romanian: netransparent, opac (ro)
- Russian: ма́товый (ru) (mátovyj), непрозра́чный (ru) (neprozráčnyj)
- Serbo-Croatian: neproziran (sh) m, neprozirno (sh), neprogledno, neprovidno
- Spanish: opaco (es)
- Swedish: ogenomskinlig (sv)
- Thai: ทึบแสง (tʉ́p-sɛ̌ɛng)
- Turkish: mat (tr), opak (tr), donuk (tr)
- Ukrainian: непрозо́рий (neprozóryj)
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allowing little light to pass through
unclear, unintelligible, hard to get or explain the meaning of
Noun
opaque (plural opaques)
- (obsolete, poetic) An area of darkness; a place or region with no light.
1745, Edward Young, Night-Thoughts, section I:Through this opaque of Nature and of Soul, / This double night, transmit one pitying ray, / To lighten, and to cheer.
- Something which is opaque rather than translucent.
Translations
something which is opaque
Verb
opaque (third-person singular simple present opaques, present participle opaquing, simple past and past participle opaqued)
- (transitive) To make, render (more) opaque.
Synonyms
Translations
See also
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “opaque”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin opācus (“shaded, shady, dark”), itself of unknown origin. Doublet of ubac.
Pronunciation
Adjective
opaque (plural opaques)
- opaque
- Antonyms: transparent, translucide
Derived terms
Descendants
Further reading
Middle French
Adjective
opaque m or f (plural opaques)
- opaque
Spanish
Verb
opaque
- inflection of opacar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative