Medically speaking, lucidity is another way of saying sanity psychiatrists and other doctors look for it when trying to determine if a patient is in the right mind to make decisions. Lucidity: Although this alternate noun form can fit in any situation you'd find lucidness, it also has a couple of meanings that are all its own. Lucidness: This noun can be used either literally or figuratively to refer to the quality of clearness or luminosity.Įxample: The reporter's lucidness helped even those who were just turning on the news figure out what was happening.Įxample: I saw myself reflected off the surface of the water in perfect lucidness. It can also describe an action, adjective, or adverb as being a result of luminescence or transparency.Įxample: The poet's voice rang out lucidly as he recited his latest work.Įxample: The poem's intriguing message made Mary feel lucidly thoughtful.Įxample: The moonlight danced lucidly across the car mirrors. Lucidly: This adverb is used to characterize an action, adjective, or other adverb as displaying or related to clarity and rational thinking. You could always try to impress dates by telling them you're basking in the glow of their lucid eyes (results may vary).Įxample: Professor Gordon's goal was to write a textbook about particle physics that would be lucid to everyone.Įxample: Assuming that particle physics could be made lucid to anyone proved Professor Gordon to be far from lucid himself.Įxample: Seeing that the first draft of the opening chapter was anything but lucid, Professor Gordon's editor realized that he was in for a cloudy week.Įxample: Remarkably, Professor Gordon was always far more lucid while in the field - something about the particle accelerator helped him think more clearly.Įxample: Even the most lucid of microscope lenses can't reveal the tiny quark.Įxample: Professor Gordon's desk was illuminated beneath a lucid window. You're most likely to see this type of lucid applied to bodies of water or crystalline materials, but it occasionally pops up in more creative descriptions of gleaming or translucent objects. This usage might imply that an object is perfectly clear, like a soap bubble that you can completely see through, or actually luminous by dint of the light flowing through it, like a gemstone that seems to glow under a lamp. Similarly, lucid also sometimes specifically indicates that someone is mentally healthy or else experiencing a period of reason in the midst of insanity.įinally, lucid can more literally refer to something as transparent to light. Essentially, their thoughts are moving as smoothly and logically as a swift, crystalline stream of water. This usage implies that someone is calm yet alert, able to look at a problem rationally and objectively before coming up with an intelligent response. Those who are lucid in this sense are understood to be totally in their right minds, perhaps despite the presence of outside stressors or the craziness of others. It’s easiest to come up with articulate explanations when you're thinking straight it makes sense, then, that lucid also frequently characterizes a person as thinking clearly or as mentally balanced. To paraphrase an old cliché, lucid expressions and progressions are simple, sweet, and to the point. A lucid instruction manual, for example, would be easy to read and follow, and lucid word choices would communicate your point sensibly and eloquently. This usage often characterizes spoken or written messages that are well expressed and logical.
To further elucidate: lucid is an adjective that usually describes something as clear and extremely easy to understand.
Luckily, your first-mate has much more presence of mind, and he's able to calmly and lucidly point out that your new underwater friend is just a lost pool toy. You eagerly call to your first-mate, but by the time he arrives you're babbling incoherently in your excitement, you're anything but lucid. Your heartbeat accelerates as your imagination fills with pirates and treasure and swashbuckling swordfights.
The water is so lucid, so crystal-clear that you can see everything in its depths with no problem - including the mesmerizing, diaphanous mermaid smiling up at you lazily. Leaning over the side of a boat, you spot something incredible on the sandy bottom of the lake.