gilded
Americanadjective
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covered or highlighted with gold or something of a golden color.
-
having a pleasing or showy appearance that conceals something of little worth.
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing gilded
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
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Grade 11, List 4
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"Sonnet 55" by William Shakespeare
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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.
It’s in keeping with the spring-through-summer obsession with other topics that blare a disconnect from average concerns, say a $400 million, 90,000-square-foot, gilded ballroom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
The man was not instantly recognisable, but gold medals and gilded certificates piled nearby were inscribed with the name Hussam Luka.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
At the rear of the hospital, grey coffins with gilded bas-reliefs emerged before the cameras of dozens of journalists.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
The patio was catching the late afternoon sun, and the olive oil surrounding the gigantes — those enormous, tender butter beans — seemed almost gilded.
From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026
It was a gilded arch, from which a sunburst spiked upward, crowning the space between Gingersnipes’s ears.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
