lambent

Adjective

lambent (comparative more lambent, superlative most lambent)

1. Brushing or flickering gently over a surface.
   • No foe to man / Lurks in the ſerpent now: the mother ſees, / And ſmiles to ſee, her infant's playful hand / Stretch'd forth to dally with the creſted worm, / To ſtroke his azure neck, or to receive / The lambent homage of his arrowy tongue.1800, William Cowper, The Task, Book VI: "The Winter Walk at Noon", Poems, J. Johnson, page 232
   • “As they walked together between the houses, Lena’s smooth arm brushed his. His skin felt lambent at the touch.”1977, Stephen R. Donaldson, Lord Foul’s Bane, page 77
2. Glowing or luminous, but lacking heat.
   • The lambent glow of fireflies delighted the children.
   • [W]hile I held my son, in the short space
     Betwixt our kisses and our last embrace;
     Strange to relate, from young Iülus’ head
     A lambent flame arose, which gently spread
     Around his brows, and on his temples fed.1697, John Dryden, Aeneas,Book II, from The Works of Virgil
3. (figuratively) Exhibiting lightness or brilliance of wit; clever or witty without unkindness.
   • We appreciated her lambent comments.
   • Byron was insouciant towards the risks he took. Many of his best passages are strikingly joyous and carefree, in prose that’s lambent, simple and brilliantly observed, as in this conclusion to a sunset at the shrine of Niamatullah: […]2016 October 31, Robert McCrum, “The 100 best nonfiction books: No 40 – The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron (1937)”, in The Guardian

   Antonyms:

   biting, cutting