polish

1 a high level of taste and enlightenment as a result of extensive intellectual training and exposure to the arts <acquired a great deal of polish during his year abroad> Synonyms accomplishment, civilization, couth, cultivation, culture, refinementRelated Words education, erudition, intellectualism, intellectuality, knowledge, learning, literacy, scholarship; cosmopolitanism, sophistication, urbanity; breeding, genteelness, gentility, manners; class, elegance, grace, taste; civility, courteousness, courtesy, politenessNear Antonyms ignorance, illiteracy; parochialism, provincialism, rusticity, unsophistication; boorishness, churlishness, clownishness, coarseness, crudeness, vulgarityAntonyms barbarianism, barbarism, philistinism

2 brightness created by light reflected from a surface <buffed the silver plate to a high polish> Synonyms burnish, gloss, luminance, luster (or lustre), shine, sheenRelated Words glare, gleam, glimmer, glint, glisten, glow, shimmer; blink, flicker, sparkle, twinkle; illumination, irradiation; iridescence, luminescence; brilliance, luminosity, radiance, radiancy, refulgence; finish, glazeNear Antonyms dimness, dinginess, dirtiness, drabness, dullness (also dulness), flatness; grayness, paleness; cloudiness, gloom, murkiness, obscureness, obscurity, somberness