glad
1 Americanadjective
-
feeling joy or pleasure; delighted; pleased: glad that you are here.
glad about the good news;
glad that you are here.
- Antonyms:
- sad
-
accompanied by or causing joy or pleasure: glad tidings.
a glad occasion;
glad tidings.
- Antonyms:
- sad
-
characterized by or showing cheerfulness, joy, or pleasure, as looks or utterances.
- Antonyms:
- sad
-
very willing.
I'll be glad to give him your message.
verb (used with object)
noun
adjective
-
happy and pleased; contented
-
causing happiness or contentment
-
very willing
he was glad to help
-
happy or pleased to have
glad of her help
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of glad1
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English glæd; cognate with Old Norse glathr “bright, glad,” Dutch glad, German glatt “smooth”; akin to Latin glaber “smooth”
Origin of glad2
First recorded in 1920–25; by shortening
Explanation
Glad is how you feel when you hear that something nice happened to someone you care about, or when you learn you got an A on that test you studied so hard for. It means happy or pleased. Glad doesn't quite mean jumping for joy — it's more a state of contentment and pleasure. You're glad to hear from an old friend who calls you out of the blue and glad to meet your friendly new neighbors. Glad can also mean "eagerly willing" so you might say, "I'll be glad to taste test those brownies for you!" The Old English source is glæd, "gleaming, joyous, or gracious."
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:
“I’m glad to see everybody,” said Baker, 77.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Brian Hildebrand was glad when Wisconsin officials recently warned that voters can’t legally cast a ballot in an election they bet on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Their mum died recently, but both say they are glad she got to be reunited with her son.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
“If this was your partner’s goal and you helped your partner achieve it, I hope you’d feel glad you helped them do what they needed to do.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
Dr. Cohen beams as if he genuinely believes I’m glad to be coming in second.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Nobody is gladder for Rosen, Donoghue, and Engel than constitutional democracy is today.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2022
I was even gladder to see his look of awe, his happy suspension of disbelief in the face of such adult wizardry.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 29, 2019
No holdouts, which makes Carroll’s heart even gladder.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 30, 2016
I am glad to have finally seen it, but gladder still that my bed is not a bus ride away.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 25, 2010
“Sir Peter is a witty man and a shrewd trader, but if he had admired our things as you do, we would have been gladder to let him have them.”
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
Across the land this Christmas season, churches old and new, grand or unpretentious, prepare for the gladdest occasion of the Christian calendar.
From Time Magazine Archive
For many an entrepreneurial Pop the gladdest moment of a lifetime is when his No.1 son enters the family firm.
From Time Magazine Archive
Famed in Los Angeles as the gladdest glad-hander of them all, Norris Poulson made the mistake of trying to slug it out with Yorty.
From Time Magazine Archive
She had run over to me and was standing down below with the gladdest face.
From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore
Ah, my Victor! nations and men are only the best when they are the gladdest, and deserve Heaven when they enjoy it.
From The Campaner Thal and Other Writings by Jean Paul
The doctor waved his hand to the Royal Orchestra, who immediately struck up with Jesu Christes Milde Moder—since Dr. Bartholomew’s book had recommended that madmen should be gladded with instruments.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
This news so gladded the heart of Corydon, that he should not be put out of his farm, that putting off his shepherd's bonnet, he did her all the reverence that he might.
From Rosalynde or, Euphues' Golden Legacy by Baldwin, Edward Chauncey
The guests be gladded with lutes and harps.
From Mediaeval Lore from Bartholomew Anglicus by Steele, Robert
But I find not the angel in any wise gladded with the same.
From Mistress Margery by Holt, Emily Sarah
And they must be gladded with instruments of music, and some deal be occupied.'
From Old-Time Makers of Medicine The Story of The Students And Teachers of the Sciences Related to Medicine During the Middle Ages by Walsh, James Joseph
One day she saw below her in the forest a dear gazelle, gladding her with its soft black eye.
From Cobwebs from an Empty Skull by Bierce, Ambrose
But where the devil were you gladding last night, my young master?
From The Three Musketeers by Dumas père, Alexandre
God safely quit her of her burden, and With gentle travail, to the gladding of Your Highness with an heir!
From King Henry VIII by Shakespeare, William
Oh, noble is the knotted oak, And sweet the gush of sylvan streams, And good the great sun's gladding beams, The blush of life upon the field, The silent might that mountains wield.
From Rose and Roof-Tree — Poems by Lathrop, George Parsons
God safely quit her of her Burthen, and With gentle Trauaile, to the gladding of Your Highnesse with an Heire King.
From Henry VIII by Shakespeare, William
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.
