Sometimes, there are two words in English that refer to concepts that are only slightly different, and those words themselves are also only slightly different. It can be maddening for non-native speakers and fledgling writers to try and sort these words out.
Wondering if an object is translucent or transparent is an excellent example. The words begin with the same syllable, and they differ in meaning only by the degree of light which a material allows to pass through it.
Having to remember that these concepts have separate words to describe them can be frustrating, but in the long run, specificity in language actually makes it easier to speak, and to understand.
What is the Difference Between Translucent and Transparent?
In this article, I will compare translucent vs. transparent, and I will use each in a sentence to illustrate how they are best used. Then, I’ll tell you a useful trick to remember when to use each word.
When to Use Translucent
What does translucent mean? If you were writing about a pane of glass, but that pane of glass was frosty, darkly colored, or very dirty, you would use translucent.
Something that is translucent allows some, but not all, light to pass through it. Stained glass, champagne, and seawater are translucent.
If an object allows no light to pass through it, like a slab of concrete, a polar bear, or dirt, it is said to be opaque.
- Designed by James Corner Field Operations, the design firm behind New York’s High Line, Seattle’s Central Waterfront and Chicago’s Navy Pier, the exhibition, opening July 2, features more than 30 translucent pentahedrons and octahedrons that mimic what it feels like to walk on the seabed. –The Washington Post
When to Use Transparent
What does transparent mean? If you were writing about a pane of glass, and that piece of glass was perfectly clear, you would use transparent. Something that is transparent allows all light to pass through it. Clean air and the windshield of a car are transparent.
Transparent can also mean easy to understand, lacking obfuscation, or poorly disguised. A website’s privacy policy or a corporation’s financial statements might be said to be transparent. A poorly told lie could also be described as transparent. Here are some examples:
- The video hosting website adopted a new, more transparent privacy policy.
- After pushback from shareholders, the company published a transparent accounting of its holdings.
- The man’s obvious lie about his salary was clearly a transparent attempt to elicit a phone number from the woman at the bar.
- India has the most transparent companies while Chinese firms are the most opaque, according to a global watchdog’s survey released Monday that assesses the efforts of companies in emerging markets to fight corruption. –The New York Times
Similarly, you could also use opaque to describe something that is difficult or impossible to understand. For instance, as many English majors often complain, “T. S. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land is beautiful, but its meaning is opaque.”
Trick to Remember the Difference
Transparent rhymes with apparent, and both mean, roughly, clear or easily visible. Since transparent objects are clear and light is easily visible through them, this mnemonic should help you remember when to use transparent.
If light still passes through but is less easily visible, the object would be translucent.
If no light passes through, the object is opaque.
Summary: Transparent vs. Translucent
Is it transparent or translucent? Many people have trouble choosing transparent or translucent. Even though these words are as similar as the concepts they describe, they are specific terms and should be used intentionally.
- Transparent objects are clear or easy to understand.
- Translucent objects allow only some light to pass through them.
- Opaque objects allow no light to pass through or are difficult to understand.
Since transparent and apparent are rhyming words that have similar meanings, you can remember to use transparent if something is very easy to understand or allows all light to pass through it.
Contents