gild

¹

[gild]

verb (used with object)

gilded, gilt, gilding. 

1. to coat with gold, gold leaf, or a gold-colored substance.

2. to give a bright, pleasing, or specious aspect to.

3. Archaic.,  to make red, as with blood.

gild

²

[gild]

noun

1. guild.

gild

¹

/ ɡɪld /

verb

1. to cover with or as if with gold

2. 1. to adorn unnecessarily something already beautiful

   2. to praise someone inordinately

3. to give a falsely attractive or valuable appearance to

4. archaic,  to smear with blood

gild

²

/ ɡɪld /

noun

1. a variant spelling of guild

Other Word Forms

• gildable adjective
• gilder noun
• gildsman noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of gild¹

1300–50; Middle English gilden, Old English -gyldan; akin to gold

Word History and Origins

Origin of gild¹

Old English gyldan, from gold _gold ; related to Old Norse gylla, Middle High German vergülden

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. gild the lily, to add unnecessary ornamentation, a special feature, etc., in an attempt to improve something that is already complete, satisfactory, or ideal.

   After that wonderful meal, serving a fancy dessert would be gilding the lily.

Example Sentences

It’s an onslaught of extravagant Rococo, Neoclassical, Art Nouveau, modern and contemporary porcelain showpieces, gilded and in dazzling blues, turquoises, ochers and pinks—made for sovereigns, dignitaries, diplomats, heads of state and the wealthy elite.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

This is the kind of thriller that invites you into a gilded empyrean that compels you and repels you in equal measure.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Not many of us had “Jeffrey Epstein” or “Ghislaine Maxwell” on our bingo cards — to mix metaphors while gilding the lily.

Read more on Salon

But for Belgravia's gilded set, being told to leave the rarefied streets and return to a supposedly less desirable part of the English capital cuts deep.

Read more on BBC

Here she sang it while standing in a glittering mermaid gown that seemed to make it impossible for her to move — some kind of metaphor for the gilded cage of a celebrity romance.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• adorn 
• bedeck