What is another word for penumbra?

Pronunciation: [pˈɛnʌmbɹə] (IPA)

Penumbra is a word that refers to the partial shadow cast by an object in direct sunlight or light, and it is often used to describe areas of darkness or uncertainty. Some synonyms for penumbra include shade, shadow, half-light, semi-darkness, dim light, and partial darkness. Other related terms include obscurity, ambiguity, uncertainty, and vagueness. These words help describe the nebulous, undefined space between light and shadow or knowledge and ignorance. The use of synonyms like these can help to clarify meaning and create a greater sense of depth and nuance in writing and conversation.

What are the hypernyms for Penumbra?

A hypernym is a word with a broad meaning that encompasses more specific words called hyponyms.

What are the hyponyms for Penumbra?

Hyponyms are more specific words categorized under a broader term, known as a hypernym.
  • hyponyms for penumbra (as nouns)

What are the opposite words for penumbra?

Penumbra refers to a partial shadow or a region of partial illumination. It is an interesting word with no simple antonym. However, it can be contrasted with its opposite, known as the "umbra." While penumbra is a partial or incomplete shadow, the umbra is a complete and total shadow. Another word that can serve as an antonym for penumbra is "radiance." Radiance is a quality of brightness, clarity, and shining light that is the complete opposite of the obscure and shadowy qualities of penumbra. Other antonyms that can be associated with penumbra are "clarity," "illumination," "brilliance," "luminosity," and "shine.

What are the antonyms for Penumbra?

Usage examples for Penumbra

Captain Bewes turned towards Mr. Samuel, who next spoke from the penumbra at the far end of the table.
"Hetty Wesley"
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
The passage of the edge of the moon over the larger spot on the sun, I noted as follows:- H. M. S. Contact with the penumbra.................
"Canadian Eclipse Party 1869"
Commander E. D. Ashe
It was an art of an art, the penumbra of an art.
"Melomaniacs"
James Huneker

Famous quotes with Penumbra

  • A penumbra of somber dignity has descended over his reputation.
    James Atlas
  • William James used to preach the "will-to-believe." For my part, I should wish to preach the "will-to-doubt." None of our beliefs are quite true; all at least have a penumbra of vagueness and error. What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.
    Bertrand Russell
  • Now the trickiest catch in the negro problem is the fact that it is The black vastly inferior. There can be no question of this among contemporary and unsentimental biologists—eminent Europeans for whom the prejudice-problem does not exist. , it is a fact that there a very grave and very legitimate problem For the simple fact is, that No normal being feels at ease amidst a population having vast elements radically different from himself in physical aspect and emotional responses. A normal Yankee feels like a fish out of water in a crowd of cultivated Japanese, even though they may be his mental and aesthetic superiors; and the normal Jap feels the same way in a crowd of Yankees. This, of course, implies permanent association. We can all exotic scenes and like it—and when we are young and unsophisticated we usually think we might continue to like it as a regular thing. But as years pass, the need of old things and usual influences—home faces and home voices—grows stronger and stronger; and we come to see that mongrelism won't work. We require the environing influence of a set of ways and physical types like our own, and will sacrifice anything to get them. Nothing means anything, in the end, except with reference to that continuous immediate fabric of appearances and experiences of which one was originally part; and if we find ourselves ingulphed by alien and clashing influences, we instinctively fight against them in pursuit of the dominant freeman's average quota of legitimate contentment. . . . All that any living man normally wants—and all that any man worth calling such will stand for—is as stable and pure a perpetuation as possible of the set of forms and appearances to which his value-perceptions are, from the circumstances of moulding, instinctively attuned. That is all there is to life—the preservation of a framework which will render the experience of the individual apparently relevant and significant, and therefore reasonably satisfying. Here we have the normal phenomenon of race-prejudice in a nutshell—the legitimate fight of every virile personality to live in a world where life shall seem to mean something. . . . Just how the black and his tan penumbra can ultimately be adjusted to the American fabric, yet remains to be seen. It is possible that the economic dictatorship of the future can work out a diplomatic plan of separate allocation whereby the blacks may follow a self-contained life of their own, avoiding the keenest hardships of inferiority through a reduced number of points of contact with the whites . . . No one wishes them any intrinsic harm, and all would rejoice if a way were found to ameliorate such difficulties as they have without imperilling the structure of the dominant fabric. It is a fact, however, that sentimentalists exaggerate the woes of the average negro. Millions of them would be perfectly content with servile status if good physical treatment and amusement could be assured them, and they may yet form a well-managed agricultural peasantry. The real problem is the quadroon and octoroon—and still lighter shades. Theirs is a sorry tragedy, but they will have to find a special place. What we can do is to discourage the increase of their numbers by placing the highest possible penalties on miscegenation, and arousing as much public sentiment as possible against lax customs and attitudes—especially in the inland South—at present favouring the melancholy and disgusting phenomenon. All told, I think the modern American is pretty well on his guard, at last, against racial and cultural mongrelism. There will be much deterioration, but the Nordic has a fighting chance of coming out on top in the end.
    H. P. Lovecraft

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