actinic

Adjective

actinic (not comparable)

1. Related to radiation; used most often in reference to light, especially in the ultraviolet range.
2. (broadly) Harsh and bright, especially blindingly so.
   • He bounded over cresting waves that shone in the actinic glare.1999, Jody Lynn Nye, School of Light
   • And what actinic, mind-wrenching form could the countermeme take? How could human hands assemble something so devastatingly powerful and hold it steady; what human mind could wield it without exploding from the inside out?2019 December 9, qntm, “Wild Light”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 191
3. Caused by extensive exposure to ultraviolet light.
   • In medicine, actinic keratoses usually occur in sundamaged skin and exhibit hyperkeratosis.
4. Of or relating to actinism, the range of photochemical effects produced by exposure to electromagnetic radiation, particularly sunlight.
   • It should be borne in mind that the actinic power of the sun is subject to considerable variations, due to its elevation above the horizon.1883, Abraham Cowley Malley, Micro-photography: Including a Description of the Wet Collodion and Gelatino-Bromide Processes, page 32
   • I got my picture, and it turned out quite a good one, despite the rather poor light which at that time of day, 7 p.m., was lacking in actinic value.1943 May and June, Chas. S. Lake, “Some Continental Travel Experiences (1922-1939)—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 141
5. Composed of actin.