gladden
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Synonym Usage
See cheer.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
gladdensimple
-
gladdenssimple
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have gladdenedperfect
-
has gladdenedperfect
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am gladdeningprogressive
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are gladdeningprogressive
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is gladdeningprogressive
-
have been gladdeningperfect progressive
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has been gladdeningperfect progressive
Past
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gladdenedsimple
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had gladdenedperfect
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was gladdeningprogressive
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were gladdeningprogressive
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had been gladdeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gladden
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at glad 1, -en 1
Explanation
To gladden is to make someone happy by delighting them or cheering them up. It will gladden your heart to finally find your lost dog. The verb gladden means "to make glad," from the Old English glæd, "bright, shining, gleaming" and also "joyous." So when something gladdens you, like running into your beloved kindergarten teacher, it brightens your whole day. Before the early 14th century, people used the word glad as a verb instead, as in: "It glads my ears to hear such beautiful music."
Vocabulary lists containing gladden
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:
The images of Rodri out on the first-team training pitches, running, turning and kicking the ball, will gladden the heart of every Manchester City fan.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2025
The word from Washington is sure to gladden the Newsom campaign.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2021
The little I’ve heard about Bloomberg will not gladden the hearts of his campaign advisers.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 27, 2020
The modest two-story, 1950s building used to be a neighborhood bank, and it still looks it, blending right into a raucous, fine-grained urban melee that would gladden the heart of Jane Jacobs.
From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2018
Of course not—what about her would gladden a witch?
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
Pitt especially gladdens as the former inmate with the face tattoos and creative side gig.
From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2022
Sometimes there's a subversive element to Twitter, a sense of underground community; an anti-establishment frisson that gladdens the soul.
From The Guardian ● May 25, 2013
The one thing that gladdens my heart is that he’s going bald.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2011
There is little that gladdens a geek's heart more than the sound of that first successful post beep from a self-built computer.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 22, 2011
She comes out with a few friends, which gladdens me because I hoped she wouldn’t be alone.
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
It was his getting up on Shabbat mornings to join us at synagogue that most gladdened and baffled me.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
Rather than viewing their opponents as enemies, many athletes seem to be emboldened and gladdened by their competitors’ successes.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2024
He would be gladdened by exhortations from members of Congress from both parties, not to mention the White House, for cash payments from the government to Americans.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 18, 2020
I believe I gave a convincing impression of a person gladdened by another’s good fortune.
From New York Times ● Mar. 10, 2019
Her eye then lit on Van Helsing and on me too, and gladdened.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
He imagined the hiss and pop of their burning logs gladdening “many a humble fireside.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2025
The animated series pitches Aang’s refusal to entirely abandon his innocence as a gladdening luxury in a world ravaged by war.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2024
Lenton and Wilson, with a combined age of 130, were perhaps the most gladdening of the successes.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2022
The brilliant and gladdening “Six: The Musical” thumbs its fetching nose at Tudor England’s old boys network and reserves a few blissfully scornful finger-wags for our own.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 15, 2022
“Every tongue did its best to circulate the gladdening intelligence.”
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
