stained glass

American  

noun

1. glass that has been colored, enameled, painted, or stained, especially by having pigments baked onto its surface or by having various metallic oxides fused into it, as used in church windows, decorative lampshades, etc.

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stained glass British  

noun

1. 1. glass that has been coloured in any of various ways, as by fusing with a film of metallic oxide or burning pigment into the surface, used esp for church windows

   2. ( as modifier )

      a stained-glass window

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Other Word Forms

• stained-glass
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of stained glass

First recorded in 1785–95

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stained glass

But “those stained glass windows are the wife.”

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026

His paintings, which look like a mashup of collage and stained glass, are immediate in their impact: Planes of saturated hues snap together in portraits, pictures of parties, and everyday scenes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

George Mallory is remembered with a stained glass window at St Wilfred's Church in Mobberley.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

Artist Ben Tuna has turned the shells of burned-out vintage Porsches into artistic symbols of revival through his work with stained glass salvaged from churches.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026

I glanced up at the stained glass depictions of Jesus all around and then at the statue in the front of the church.

From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English

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