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.
Mr. Nolan’s vision is broad, deep, ambitious and aglow with awe for our cultural wellsprings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Daisy seemed to have turned back the clock and had that expression dogs get, mouth open and eyes aglow, when it looks like they’re smiling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2025
Below deck, aglow with the light of a dozen computer monitors, is the Combat Information Centre.
From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2024
The huge open kitchen in the back still gets abuzz with activity and aglow with the flames of the wood-fired grill — both noteworthy formats when the Palace Kitchen debuted in 1996.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 7, 2023
Years later, a reporter described how he’d still pace before a fire “like a leashed animal. He nervously rubbed his hands into the flames. His rather ruddy face was aglow with cold and excitement.”
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
