gilded

[gil-did]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gilded ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

covered or highlighted with gold or something of a golden color.

having a pleasing or showy appearance that conceals something of little worth.

Origin of gilded

before 1000; gild¹ + -ed²; replacing Middle English gild, Old English gegyld

Related formsnon·gild·ed, adjectiveun·gild·ed, adjective

Can be confusedgilded golden

gild

[gild]

verb (used with object), gild·ed or gilt, gild·ing.

to coat with gold, gold leaf, or a gold-colored substance.

to give a bright, pleasing, or specious aspect to.

Archaic. to make red, as with blood.

Idioms

gild the lily, to add unnecessary ornamentation, a special feature, etc., in an attempt to improve something that is already complete, satisfactory, or ideal: After that wonderful meal, serving a fancy dessert would be gilding the lily.

Origin of gild

1300–50; Middle English gilden, Old English -gyldan; akin to gold

Related formsgild·a·ble, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for gilded

luxurious, ornate, festooned, aureate, gaudy, meretricious, prosperous, tawdry

Examples from the Web for gilded

Contemporary Examples of gilded

Mary Soames is an exception to the rule that gilded offspring endure life rather than enjoy it.
Churchill’s Secret Treasures for Sale: A British PM’s Life on the Auction Block
Tom Teodorczuk
December 8, 2014
You may be wondering what work of monumental consequence is contained within these gilded pages.
Rand Paul’s Many Leather-Bound Books
Olivia Nuzzi
November 27, 2014
Feast your eyes on the ‘top-grain leather,’ ‘original’ design, gilded pages.
Rand Paul’s Many Leather-Bound Books
Olivia Nuzzi
November 27, 2014
At Oscar after-parties, movie stars clutch In-N-Out burgers in one hand and gilded trophies in the other.
My Big, Buttery Lobster Roll Rumble: We Came, We Clawed, We Conquered
Scott Bixby
June 7, 2014
Even in 1999, this gilded cage of a cushy but unstimulating white-collar career was only available to certain people.
Complaining Like It’s 1999: ‘Fight Club,’ ‘American Beauty,’ and the Revolt of the Cubicle Drone
Arthur Chu
June 3, 2014

Historical Examples of gilded

There were other and still other banners, in velvet or in satin, balanced at the end of gilded batons.
The Dream
Emile Zola
These were the little familiar deeds which gilded his name among the people.
Meadow Grass
Alice Brown
The trap was not gilded, and he was very uncomfortable in it.
The Incomplete Amorist
E. Nesbit
It is like the gilded poison that undermines the human frame.
Imogen
William Godwin
But all in vain—she had to go back and sit on her gilded couch.
Cleo The Magnificent
Louis Zangwill

British Dictionary definitions for gilded

gild

verb gilds, gilding, gilded or gilt (ɡɪlt) (tr)

to cover with or as if with gold

gild the lily

to adorn unnecessarily something already beautiful
to praise someone inordinately

to give a falsely attractive or valuable appearance to

archaic to smear with blood

Derived Formsgilder, noun

Word Origin for gild

Old English gyldan, from gold gold; related to Old Norse gylla, Middle High German vergülden

gild

noun

a variant spelling of guild (def. 2)

Derived Formsgildsman, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gilded

adj.

1560s (late Old English had gegylde); in modern use the more dignified past participle of gild (q.v.). Shakespeare's lilies were never gilded; the quote ("King John," iv.2) is, "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily."

gild

Old English gyldan "to gild, to cover with a thin layer of gold," from Proto-Germanic *gulthianan (cf. Old Norse gylla "to gild," Old High German ubergulden "to cover with gold"), from *gulthan "gold" (see gold). Related: Gilded; gilding. Figuratively from 1590s.