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definitions

gladden

[glad-n]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gladden ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to make glad.

verb (used without object)

Obsolete. to be glad.

Origin of gladden

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at glad1, -en1
Related formsglad·den·er, nounun·glad·den, verb (used with object)

Synonym study

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

Related Words for gladden

elate, brighten, hearten, delight, cheer, warm

Examples from the Web for gladden

Historical Examples of gladden

  • And still more of this belated spring will gladden the eye in the florist's window.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • It was she whom all this honour and distinction were to gladden; the joy and profit were for her.

    Barnaby Rudge

    Charles Dickens

  • Gladden your souls, ye mistresses, with sense of error bann'd.

  • Reflect that you may gladden and beautify your lives, or embitter them, according as you now act.

    The Home

    Fredrika Bremer

  • Bearing to the neighboring town, fuel that gladden'd the hearth-stone.

    Man of Uz, and Other Poems

    Lydia Howard Sigourney

British Dictionary definitions for gladden

gladden

verb

to make or become glad and joyful
Derived Formsgladdener, 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 gladden
v.

c.1300, "to be glad;" 1550s, "to make glad;" see glad + -en (1). Earlier in both senses was simply glad (v.), from Old English gladian, Mercian gleadian "be glad, make glad."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper