gem
Americannoun
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gems
plural
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a cut and polished precious stone or pearl fine enough for use in jewelry.
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something likened to or prized as such a stone because of its beauty or worth.
His painting was the gem of the collection.
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a person held in great esteem or affection.
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British Printing. a 4-point type of a size between brilliant and diamond.
verb (used with object)
adjective
noun
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a precious or semiprecious stone used in jewellery as a decoration; jewel
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a person or thing held to be a perfect example; treasure
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a size of printer's type, approximately equal to 4 point
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a type of small sweet cake
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of gem
1275–1325; Middle English gemme < Old French < Latin gemma bud, jewel; replacing Middle English yimme, Old English gim ( m ) < Latin
Explanation
A gem is a precious or semi-precious stone, or a jewel. A silversmith might experiment with adding gems to her rings and necklaces. The sparkly gem in your grandmother's fancy ring might be a diamond, while your aunt appears to prefer the polished greenish-blue gems called turquoise. If you're trained to identify and put a value on gems, you can call yourself a gemologist. Gem is from the Old French gemme, which has a Latin root, gemma, "precious stone or jewel."
Vocabulary lists containing gem
In A Sedimental Mood: Rock and Gem Vocabulary
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Essential Three-Letter Words, Part 2
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for January 27–February 2, 2024
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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.
See Examples For:
Pearls have always been the modern gem of the moment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
A few months into the new season, it seems Liverpool have settled on a gem.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
Boasting breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, this gem is located on a triangular 0.4-acre oceanfront lot.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
This year, nothing is working well — although the defense did turn in a gem for three quarters in the Week 3 loss at Buffalo, including five takeaways.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
"Intelligence is essentially a banal trade of sifting through huge amounts of random information in a search for a single enlightening gem or illuminating link," he wrote.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
Johnson’s public comments are usually motivational gems such as “When you face a crisis, you know who your true friends are.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
People across the UK have been invited to nominate their local red phone box libraries for the books to help the campaign's organisers "uncover more hidden gems".
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
Most art fairs aim to unearth talent from the vast number of artists toiling in obscurity today, but Independent 20th Century looks to the past in its search for creative gems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Some diamond suppliers are adding those gems to their inventories to boost sales, she said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
“Daughter of Pluto, you may control gems and metals. You do not control the dead.”
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
A search for “Barbie” on the company’s website returns rose-gold jewelry and pink gemmed rings.
From Reuters ● Jul. 23, 2023
Moreover, the first images of crosses portray them more as slender, gemmed staffs than as sturdy instruments of execution.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 14, 2017
The passing rivers, the sounds rising from street gratings, the gemmed bridges were recognizable in name, but transposed to a different key.
From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2014
Depicted in his role as minister of justice, he wears an impressively gemmed and starchy crown, but the face below it looks miserable.
From New York Times ● Mar. 25, 2010
The wild flowers gemmed with dew—the quivering foliage vieing in colour with the emerald sward—the vistas dreamily grey and endless—the air balmy—the light soft and grateful.
From The White Squaw by Mayne Reid
Like some palpable, suffocating substance it filled the plain and mounted far up into the air, even to the blue-black sky, whence a million gemming stars pierced it with their diamond lances.
From With Hoops of Steel by Dan Smith
Bells of dew glittered upon the bushes rooted in the walls, and upon the ivy-grown pillars; and gemming the countless spiders' webs stretched from bough to bough, showed they were all unbroken.
From The Lancashire Witches A Romance of Pendle Forest by William Harrison Ainsworth
That door was flung back, and in the square of dripping darkness stood Creed Bonbright, his face death white, his eyes wide and fixed, the rain gemming his uncovered yellow hair.
From Judith of the Cumberlands by Alice MacGowan
CORNFLOWERS, you say, just cornflowers, gemming the golden grain; Ah no!
From Rhymes of a Red Cross Man by Robert W. (Robert William) Service
In the green stillness of the deep woods, birds singing and shy delicate blossoms gemming the moss, the fierce and savage past was like a dream.
From Masters of the Guild by L. Lamprey
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