How to Use illumination in a Sentence

illumination

noun
  • They traveled to the temple in search of spiritual illumination.
  • When taking photographs indoors, use a flash for illumination.
  • In the end, there’s a lot to balk at and quote, but not a lot of illumination.
    — Lindsey Bahr, Detroit Free Press, 28 Sep. 2017
  • Sky-gazers can catch a glimpse of the full moon at its peak illumination this week.
    — Gina Park, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2025
  • This pre-lit star keeps the glow going by adding a warm, soft illumination.
    — Grace Smith, Town & Country, 5 Dec. 2022
  • One streetlight and one back-porch light shed some illumination on the car.
    — Barbara Bradley Hagerty, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2018
  • These days are about the coming of the light—warmth, illumination, life anew.
    — Anne Lamott, National Geographic, 19 Nov. 2020
  • The light wraps around your neck to provide hands-free illumination.
    — Louryn Strampe, Wired News, 26 May 2025
  • There is nowhere to go but inside, and yet what is inside is what must be saved from illumination.
    — The New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2022
  • The wind in the trees is the only sound, the moon the only illumination.
    — Sarah Kaplan, Alaska Dispatch News, 22 June 2017
  • The moon will look full to our eyes a day either side of peak illumination, Petro said.
    — Angela Eichhorst, CNN, 18 Dec. 2021
  • Another showed the dull illumination of the fire overnight, with a home seen near the flames.
    — Rey Covarrubias Jr., The Arizona Republic, 16 Dec. 2024
  • The northern lights are best viewed around new moons when there's little illumination in the sky.
    — Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 11 July 2023
  • Their illumination was bright enough to reveal the shape of the corals below.
    — Brian Clark Howard, National Geographic, 14 Aug. 2019
  • Low mode provides up to 12 hours of illumination while high mode lasts up to six hours.
    — Brittany Vanderbill, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Sep. 2022
  • Low mode provides up to 12 hours of illumination while high mode lasts up to six hours.
    — Brittany Vanderbill, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Sep. 2022
  • Over time, Earth blocks more and more of the sun, and the illumination drops further.
    — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 6 Mar. 2025
  • In the movie, Griswold doesn’t get the grand illumination on the first flip of the switch.
    — Karie Angell Luc, Chicago Tribune, 30 Nov. 2022
  • To be fair, there are a few other cars on the road in Black's video, which might be adding some illumination.
    — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, 23 Mar. 2018
  • Kill it with chlorine or grow it to save energy for room illumination.
    — Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Nov. 2025
  • Oh, there were results, but no true illumination.
    — Joy Williams, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
  • On the one hand, there is proven pleasure; on the other, the quest for illumination—a quest that often fails.
    — Leo Robson, The New Yorker, 3 Jan. 2017
  • As with every full moon, the exact moment of peak illumination is not the best time to observe it.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 26 June 2026
  • As with every full moon, the exact moment of peak illumination is not the best time to observe it.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
  • The illumination in the room gave me the complexion of canned Spam.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 4 June 2021
  • The way that draw is like gravity, pulling them in even when illumination is a promise of danger.
    — Rachel Elspeth Gross, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026
  • Yet the sun cannot be the source of the body’s illumination, which comes in from the opposite direction at the left front.
    — Christopher Knight, latimes.com, 13 Oct. 2017
  • Writing, which is a kind of paying attention, can be an act of love, an illumination.
    — Literary Hub, 20 Jan. 2026
  • These times mark the exact instant of full illumination.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 1 May 2026
  • These times mark the exact instant of full illumination.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 9 Dec. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'illumination.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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