glimmer
Americannoun
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a faint or unsteady light; gleam.
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a dim perception; inkling.
verb (used without object)
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to shine faintly or unsteadily; twinkle, shimmer, or flicker.
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to appear faintly or dimly.
verb
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(of a light, candle, etc) to glow faintly or flickeringly
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to be indicated faintly
hope glimmered in his face
noun
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a glow or twinkle of light
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a faint indication
Related Words
See gleam.
Other Word Forms
- glimmeringly adverb
Etymology
Origin of glimmer
1300–50; Middle English glimeren “to gleam”; cognate with German glimmern; compare Old English gleomu “splendor”
Explanation
A glimmer is a tiny glint of light or the sliver of an idea. Either way, it's a sign of a lot more going on behind the scenes. A glimmer of light is just a little bit of light, maybe sneaking through the curtains enough to make a flicker on the floor. A glimmer of an idea is just a small inkling of an idea. When someone doesn't understand something, you could make them feel worse by saying, "You don't have a glimmer of what I'm talking about, do you?" When it comes to light, you can also say light is glimmering, or gleaming. People often say stars are glimmering.
Vocabulary lists containing glimmer
"Harrison Bergeron"
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"Of Mice and Men"
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
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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.
One reason energy-futures don’t fully reflect this is that any glimmer of hope blows up bullish derivatives positions.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
Despite the anguish — often told as a punch line — the winner of the competition offered a glimmer of hope to the nearly 90 attendees live-voting throughout the show via an app.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
"It's hard because you always saw that glimmer of hope in him that he was still there, but it got to a point... I ended up nearly breaking myself to trying to help Michael."
From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026
American drivers saw a glimmer of hope for at least a brief reprieve from rising fuel costs when crude-oil prices fell by more than 10% Monday.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 24, 2026
“You look different, too,” I mumbled, my eye drawn by the glimmer of the double Albert watch chain draped across his slim waist.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
