Iridescent

Showing colors that appear to change with the viewing angle or light.

Reach for it when praising a shifting optical surface rather than simple brightness

An iridescent blue crossed the dragonfly's wing as it turned.

• everyday

  rainbow-colored

  several familiar spectral colors are visible

  not when Rainbow-colored may be fixed pigment rather than changing reflected color.

• warm

  gleaming

  bright reflected light is the main impression

  not when Gleaming says nothing about changing color.

• warm

  shimmering

  light flickers gently across the surface

  not when Shimmering can remain one color and need not shift with angle.

• professional

  pearlescent

  the finish resembles the soft luster of pearl

  not when Pearlescent is a specific pale effect and does not cover vivid structural color.

• formal

  prismatic

  light separates into spectral colors

  not when Prismatic implies refraction or dispersion, not every iridescent mechanism.

• literary

  opalescent

  the shifting color has a milky opal-like softness

  not when Opalescent is paler and cloudier than many iridescent effects.

• matte
• dull
• monochromatic

• iridescent sheen

  The tile developed an iridescent sheen after the final firing.

• iridescent colors

  Iridescent colors moved from green to violet across the shell.

• iridescent surface

  The iridescent surface was photographed from three angles.

• iridescent feathers

  The starling's iridescent feathers shifted from green to violet in the sun.