Diaphanous

adjective

(of material) Thin and lightweight, so as to allow light to pass through
Elegantly delicate or ethereal in composition
Insubstantial or ephemeral in nature

Usage

Think of the jellyfish. One of nature's most diaphanous creatures, the jellyfish is barely there, a thin, semi-transparent membrane whose undulations and slight luminescence are the only clues that it's a living thing. While not anything you'd like to encounter on an afternoon swim, jellies have an elusive beauty when seen from a safe distance, say from the deck of a boat or behind thick aquarium glass. They are mesmerizing because of their very intangibility, their translucent, diaphanous forms evoking impressions of a delicate beauty liable to be washed away with the changing of the tide.

Like our cnidarian friends the jellies, things which are diaphanous are characterized by delicacy and an airy, at times ethereal quality. The commonest, most practical usage of diaphanous describes a material as sheer or gauzy. Usually applied to fabrics, this sense of the word implies that a bolt of cloth or piece of clothing is thin to the point of transparency. For example, light will pass right through a fine, diaphanous piece of silk when it's held up to a lamp, making it partially see-through. While this can create lovely, fashionable effects, it can also mean that diaphanous clothing isn't always the most practical choice when you're trying to preserve modesty. The word can also be used more generally to identify something as subtle, elegant, or tantalizingly faint. It's important to note here that the delicateness suggested by this meaning of diaphanous isn't usually the same as "flimsiness." Rather than referring to a flaw, diaphanous describes something as being graceful and charming, as possessing a certain beauty because it is so intangible.

Fittingly, diaphanous can sometimes be used figuratively to portray ambiguity or immateriality. You might use diaphanous to say that the details of a plan are a little vague, or to comment on the subjectivity in transcendental philosophy. Being figurative, this meaning clearly works best when referring to ideas or when used in metaphors, as opposed to describing physical traits. For instance, no matter how much delicate grace a jellyfish appears to have, it certainly won't seem diaphanous when you touch its tentacles.

Example: "You're not going anywhere until you put on some real clothes!" yelled George when he saw his daughter's lightweight, diaphanous dress.

Example: Jessica wished she didn't have to put up with her father's fickle rules, which she saw as diaphanous and subjective.

Example: Jessica had been trying to dress like the graceful, diaphanous starlets she saw on television.

Example: One singer in particular, famous for her light, diaphanous trill, had deeply impressed Jessica.

Origin

The earliest origin of diaphanous is thought to be the Greek diaphanes. Meaning "see-through," diaphanes is a combination of the root dia (for "through") and the verb phainein ("to display or show"). Diaphanes would later be adopted with much the same meaning in Latin as the verb diaphanus. This Latin form is the closest relative of the English diaphanous, the first uses of which are attributed to the early seventeenth century.

Derivative Words

Diaphanously: This adverb describes an action that is done vaguely or with a graceful insubstantiality.

Example: Gene was captivated by the way his girlfriend's scarf fluttered diaphanously in the breeze.

Diaphanousness: In the same way as diaphanous, this noun can be either literal, referring to the state of being gossamer or delicate, or figurative, used when something is intangible or indefinite.

Example: As a young girl, the entomologist had been inspired by the diaphanousness of butterfly wings.

Example: The diaphanousness of the art exhibit's theme left me a bit dizzy.

Diaphaneity: This alternate noun form of diaphanous isn't very common, but it can be used interchangeably with diaphanousness.

Example: Her gown's diaphaneity made her look like a wraith in the night.

Example: The diaphaneity of Caleb's manner made his teacher wonder whether the boy was able to concentrate in class.

In Literature

From Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness:

The water shone pacifically; the sky, without a speck, was a benign immensity of unstained light; the very mist on the Essex marsh was like a gauzy and radiant fabric, hung from the wooded rises inland, and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds.

In this scene, Conrad compares the mist that settles over his landscape to a fine, gossamer cloth, using the word diaphanous to characterize it as delicate and translucent.

Mnemonic

Diaphanous fabric is like a fantasy
Diaphanous fabric flutters like a phantom