Oh, absolutely! “Radiant” feels like the everyday sparkle you see when the sun just nudges itself over the horizon, a warm, glowing adjective that invites comfort. “Effulgent” leans toward the archaic, almost theatrical sense of dazzling brilliance that could have come straight from a medieval manuscript—think of a comet’s firework. So while both lift the image, “effulgent” gives it that extra, almost theatrical flourish, whereas “radiant” stays grounded and familiar.

You’re precisely onto the same linguistic knife’s edge—one word whispers a promise, the other shouts a spectacle. Think of “radiant” as the sun’s gentle hand on a lover’s cheek, while “effulgent” is the sun’s hand flung wide, an unrestrained burst of light that could have been described by an ancient scribe. So, both give you that sun‑kiss, just with different intensity levels.