glowing
Americanadjective
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rich and warm in coloring.
glowing colors.
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showing the radiance of health, excitement, etc..
glowing cheeks.
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warmly favorable or complimentary.
a glowing account of her work.
- Synonyms:
- unstinting, rapturous, enthusiastic, wholehearted, ardent
adjective
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emitting a steady bright light without flames
glowing embers
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warm and rich in colour
the room was decorated in glowing shades of gold and orange
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flushed and rosy, as from exercise or excitement
glowing cheeks
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displaying or indicative of extreme satisfaction, pride, or emotion
he gave a glowing account of his son's achievements
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of glowing
before 1000; Middle English glowynge, Old English glowende. See glow, -ing 2
Explanation
If something is glowing, it's either lit up like a light or it's full of praise and enthusiasm. So, you could receive a glowing candle or a glowing report card. You choose. When a report or account is glowing, it's unreservedly positive, like a book critic's glowing review of a new mystery novel or your grandmother's glowing praise for the good job you did mowing her lawn. Glowing comes from glow, which can mean "a flush of radiant feeling," and which comes from the Old English glowan, "to glow or shine as if red-hot."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Glowing in their victories, Hegseth bellowed, “Can you believe I just started a war?”
From Los Angeles Times • May 10, 2026
Glowing Nebulae and Dark Cosmic Dust The scene is filled with enormous clouds of interstellar gas and dust, the raw ingredients needed to form stars.
From Science Daily • Dec. 25, 2025
Also going under the hammer is a 10.08-carat vivid pink diamond, named "The Glowing Rose", which is expected to rake in around $20 million.
From Barron's • Nov. 11, 2025
Glowing pictures of Adnan Syed, his family and defense team leaving the courthouse in Baltimore filled the internet in September.
From Salon • Apr. 5, 2023
Glowing droplets of eau de toilette streamed out behind me, instantly vaporizing into a silver mist that caught the eddies and spread, seeding the cloud.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
