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vocabulary
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opaque
in a sentence
grouped by contextual meaning

opaque as in:  opaque shower door

Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
  • The bathroom has natural light that comes through an opaque window.
    opaque = unable to be seen through
  • About ten miles past the end of the improved road the Stampede Trail crosses the Teklanika River, a fast, icy stream whose waters are opaque with glacial till.  (source)
    opaque = impossible to see through
  • Ender found the scanner, a sheet of opaque plastic.  (source)
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Show 10 more with 6 word variations
  • The once-narrow ribbon of smoke had become an opaque mass that belched from the top half of the barn's entryway.  (source)
    opaque = unable to be seen through
  • For a second I caught a hesitation, an opacity, in her wide brown eyes, and then the eyes brightened again.†  (source)
  • Water around the raft, until a moment before opaquely black, showed itself to be crowded with fish.†  (source)
  • He was almost on the rocks before he saw them; on a night less calm he would have been shattered against them. With his remaining strength he dragged himself from the swirling waters. Jagged crags appeared to jut up into the opaqueness;  (source)
    opaqueness = the quality of being impossible to see through (a sky so black it hung like a black blanket that blocked vision of anything beyond it)
    standard suffix: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.
  • No doors: the arched entrances are farcaster portals, a few opaqued with privacy curtains, most open to observation and entry.†  (source)
  • Who knows whether these opacities will not become transparent?†  (source)
  • They have told us that our atmosphere is what they call opaque, so that the stars are not visible, and then they were surprised that we know stars, that we know their music and the movements of their dance far better than beings like you who spend hours studying them through what you call telescopes.  (source)
    opaque = impossible to see through
  • Some discreet accommodation had been made for their tastes, and they mingled among the others holding sleek metal flutes, plucked from the champagne table, whose opacity hid the liquid inside.†  (source)
  • The light in the kitchen came opaquely through the wet windows; the room was warm, and on the table, neatly arranged, lay a collection of candles, a kerosene lantern, two flashlights, and a box of wooden matches.†  (source)
  • I think I sensed something missing: the protective opaqueness that many Americans, maybe especially black Americans, learn to put on for strangers, certainly by the time they are thirty.†  (source)
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opaque as in:  opaque explanation

We made a game of guessing at the meaning of her opaque lyrics.
opaque = difficult or impossible to understand
Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
  • She answered in a polite tone, but her answer was opaque.
    opaque = not understandable
  • Regulator are concerned that the true risks faced by large financial institutions are opaque due to the complexity of modern financial instruments.
  • I was used to unhappiness, formless and opaque, stretching out to every horizon.  (source)
    opaque = hard to understand
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Show 10 more
  • A few minutes later, Max Vandenburg was in the room, noiseless and opaque.  (source)
    opaque = impossible to read (not showing what he was thinking)
  • Maybe we needed to give shape to the opaque, deep-down pain that evades both sense and senses.  (source)
    opaque = difficult to understand
  • IF EDGAR HAD BEEN INWARD and opaque to her at five, now he was a total mystery.  (source)
  • The great expanses of wall space were opaque with canvas, portraits in oil of deceased headmasters, a founder or two, forgotten leaders of the faculty, a beloved athletic coach none of us had ever heard of, a lady we could not identify—her fortune had largely rebuilt the school; a nameless poet who was thought when under the school's protection to be destined primarily for future generations; a young hero now anonymous who looked theatrical in the First World War uniform in which he…  (source)
  • Nadia frequently explored the terrain of social media, though she left little trace of her passing, not posting much herself, and employing opaque usernames and avatars, the online equivalents of her black robes.  (source)
  • The opaque, mad look came into his eyes again.  (source)
    opaque = impossible to understand
  • ...but Lola had crossed her arms and paid decorous, grown-up compliments through a half smile that was too opaque for the detection of irony.  (source)
    opaque = hard to read (not showing what he was thinking)
  • She was given a steady, opaque look.  (source)
    opaque = hard to understand
  • Before, dark and opaque bodies had surrounded me, impervious to my touch or sight; but I now found that I could wander on at liberty, with no obstacles which I could not either surmount or avoid.  (source)
    opaque = impossible to understand
  • But when it came to knowing his thoughts, Edgar could be as opaque as a rock.  (source)
    opaque = difficult to understand (see into)
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