aglow
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of aglow
Explanation
Something that's aglow is gleaming with light. You might sit outside at night to see the full moon, aglow in the dark sky. The adjective aglow is a poetic, slightly old-fashioned way to say "glowing" or "radiant." Some things are literally aglow, like the sunshine glinting off the surface of a lake, and others are figuratively aglow, like your sister's smiling face, aglow with health and happiness. The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge is credited with the first use of aglow, in his 1817 "Sonnet to William Wordsworth."
Vocabulary lists containing aglow
Let There Be Light: Synonyms for "Bright"
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Novel Study: When Breath Becomes Air, Part II–Epilogue
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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.
On a return visit, a guitar in her lap, she sings, “In my bell bottom jumpsuits with my rhinestones all aglow / I became an overnight sensation on the Johnny Carson Show.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Mr. Nolan’s vision is broad, deep, ambitious and aglow with awe for our cultural wellsprings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Below deck, aglow with the light of a dozen computer monitors, is the Combat Information Centre.
From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2024
Adding to this trio of celestial jewels, a waxing crescent moon will be aglow with light from the Earth shortly after sunset.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
As Minli looked at the buffalo boy, aglow with happiness against his poor surroundings, she saw it was enough for him.
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
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.
