gilded

American  

[gil-did] / ˈgɪl dɪd /

adjective

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

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

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Other Word Forms

• nongilded
  adjective
• ungilded
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of gilded

before 1000; gild ¹ + -ed ²; replacing Middle English gild, Old English gegyld

Explanation

Something gilded looks like gold, whether it is or not. If you've heard the expression "all that glitters is not gold," it's especially true of anything gilded. You might have first heard the word gilded in the name of a historical period in the U.S. known as The Gilded Age; the name suggests that the appearance of wealth concealed actual poverty. Gilded is often used to point out illusion in this way, but if no illusion is intended, it need not be a negative word. I think the gilded doves in your painting are especially lovely.

Example Sentences

But for many residents, it feels like Trump is putting his personal stamp on the city, from his plans for a triumphal arch to a new gilded White House ballroom.

From Barron's • May 19, 2026

“The sterile white ballroom, with its 40-foot ceilings, gilded chandeliers, and sky-high windows, conveys none of that.”

From Slate • May 18, 2026

US actors Angelina Jolie, Jared Leto, Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges have all admitted to losing track of their gilded Academy Awards over the years.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

But now a cadre of bureaucrats in Paris’s gilded Quai d’Orsay are ditching their carefully worded communiqués in favor of a stream of real-time X posts that mix self-mockery and sarcasm…in English.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

They were the glass kind, the ones with gilded rims and no handles.

From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram

Related Words

• luxurious
• ornate