Did you know?
Wonder what scintillas (or scintillae) are? It may help spark your memory to look up above the world so high at the tiny (to our eyes) stars twinkling like diamonds in the sky. Scintilla comes directly from Latin, where it refers to a spark—that is, a bright flash such as you might see from a burning ember (the noun scintilla is related to the verb scintillare, which means “to sparkle” and is responsible for the English verb scintillate meaning “to sparkle or gleam”). In the 17th century, English carried over this “glittering particle” sense, which is still in use today, as when Scottish writer Rudi Zygadlo wrote of the Gulf of Mexico “fizzing with scintillas underneath the rising sun.” In the same century, people also began using scintilla figuratively for a hint or trace of something that barely suggests its presence. Today this sense is much more common, and especially found in negative statements, such as “We have not a scintilla of doubt that you are now humming ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.’”
Examples of scintilla in a Sentence
Aziz Huq, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2026
Some of Trump’s tariffs contain at least a scintilla of geo-political logic.
—Richard Quest, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2025
Then sank a flotilla,Then fought a gorilla,And wasn’t ashamed one scintilla!
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Oct. 2025
One scintilla of fentanyl coming across any border is unacceptable on any level.
—NBC News, 9 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scintilla
Cite this Entry
“Scintilla.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scintilla. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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scintilla
noun
