きらめく

き

ら

め

く

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

きらめく · godan verb (-ku)

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	きらめく	きらめかない
Polite	きらめきます	きらめきません
Past polite	きらめきました	きらめきませんでした
Past	きらめいた	きらめかなかった
Te-form	きらめいて	きらめかないで
Desire	きらめきたい	きらめきたくない
Potential	きらめける	きらめけない
Passive	きらめかれる	きらめかれない
Causative	きらめかせる	きらめかせない
Causative passive	きらめかせられるalso きらめかされる	きらめかせられないalso きらめかされない
Volitional	きらめこう
Polite volitional	きらめきましょう
Imperative	きらめけ	きらめくな
Conditional	きらめけば	きらめかなければ
Tara conditional	きらめいたら	きらめかなかったら

Meanings

godan verb (-ku), intransitive verb

glitter; sparkle; twinkle; glisten; gleam

usually written using kana alone

Describes light reflecting off a surface in a bright, flickering way; often used for stars, jewels, water, or eyes.

夜よ空ぞらに星ほしがきらめいている。
Stars are twinkling in the night sky.
彼かの女じょの目めが喜よろこびできらめいた。
Her eyes sparkled with joy.

See all 33 example sentences ›

Kanji

煌glitter, gleam, twinkle
燦brilliant

Related words· 6

瞬またたくN1
瞬く describes a soft, intermittent shimmer of light (stars, flames), while きらめく suggests a brighter, more dazzling sparkle.
光ひかるN4
きらめく suggests a sparkling, flickering shine (like jewels or stars twinkling), whereas 光る just means to shine or be bright in general.
ちらつくN1
きらめく emphasizes a bright, sparkling quality, while ちらつく emphasizes unsteady, intermittent visibility without implying brightness.
輝かがやくN3
きらめく describes a flickering, dazzling sparkle often tied to movement, whereas 輝く can describe a steady, intense radiance.

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キラキラN3
きらめく is the verb form meaning 'to sparkle,' while キラキラ is the adverb/onomatopoeia describing the same visual effect, often paired with する or と.
光ひかり輝かがやく
きらめく describes a glittering, sparkling flicker of light (like stars or jewels), while 光り輝く suggests a fuller, steadier glow.

Word family

きらめき
glitter; sparkle; twinkle

Written forms

きらめくUsage85%
Usually written in kana; the kanji forms 煌めく and 煌く are uncommon and 燦めく is rare.
煌きらめくUsage8%
irregular okurigana
Irregular okurigana variant; rarely used.
煌きらめくUsage6%
Kanji form with standard okurigana; literary or stylistic use.
燦きらめくUsage1%
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji form; not commonly encountered.

Etymology

The word is likely of mimetic origin, related to the sound-symbolic root きら (kira), which represents glittering or sparkling. The exact derivation is uncertain.