verb
noun
-
a bright gleam or flash
-
brightness or gloss
-
a brief indication
Related Words
See flash.
Etymology
Origin of glint
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English glint, variant of obsolete glent; compare Danish glente, Swedish dialect glänta “to glimpse, brighten”
Explanation
A glint is a brief flash or flicker of light. You might enjoy gazing at the glint of light on the water as you lie on the beach in the summer time. You can use the word glint as a noun or a verb: your brother's braces might glint in the afternoon sun, and freshly fallen snow sometimes glints under streetlamps at night. Glint is a Scottish word, first coined in the late 1700s, that comes from the Middle English glenten, "gleam, flash, or glisten." Its ultimate root is Scandinavian, possibly from the same root as the word glass.
Vocabulary lists containing glint
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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Prisoner B-3087
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A Long Way from Chicago
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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.
It was as a trainer that he excelled though, and his Kingsclere yard in Newbury produced many Group One victors, including Glint Of Gold, Selkirk, Lochsong and most notably Mill Reef.
From BBC • Jan. 2, 2026
Jason Cozens, founder and CEO of gold trading and investment app Glint Pay, has also seen strong demand to use gold as a currency.
From Reuters • Apr. 27, 2022
Customers can use Glint to purchase gold, which is held in a vault in Switzerland, and spend their holdings using a Mastercard.
From Reuters • Apr. 27, 2022
Another company, Glint Photonics, received $2.7 million in 2012 from DOE under the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy to commercialize low-cost concentrating photovoltaic modules.
From Scientific American • Feb. 12, 2015
Glint for glint her shining eyes challenged the moon.
From Peace on Earth, Good-will to Dogs by Abbott, Eleanor Hallowell
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.
