noun
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charm and allure; fascination
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fascinating or voluptuous beauty, often dependent on artifice
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( as modifier )
a glamour girl
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archaic a magic spell; charm
Spelling
See -or 1.
Etymology
Origin of glamour
First recorded in 1710–20; from Scots glamar, glamer, dissimilated variant of grammar in sense “occult learning”
Explanation
Glamour is the quality of being fascinating, alluring, or charming. If you've watched Marilyn Monroe on a movie screen, then you've witnessed glamour! The word glamour originally referred to a magical or even unreal charm or beauty attached to a person or an object. Today you can still glamour, or cast a spell over, someone, but you probably won’t. More often glamour is now used to mean a certain thrilling or attractive appeal. Glamour is more than just good looks — the right clothing, jewelry, attitude, or friends can produce glamour — the mark of a star.
Vocabulary lists containing glamour
And the Oscar Goes to... Award-worthy Words
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Awkward
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The Cruel Prince
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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.
News that she has no regrets about walking away from the glitz and glamour, saying the decision was what was best for both her family and her mental health.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 7, 2026
And Deb's middle finger statement fits right in with what the fashion pages are calling this year's "hot divorcee summer" - a celebration of liberated glamour and a "don't care energy".
From BBC • Jul. 6, 2026
Constance, your character in “Love Story,” she embodies the other side of the glamour and the fame and the story that we all think we know.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
New York doesn’t present as a glamour team, even with Oscar nominees sitting courtside and Finals tickets going on the secondary market for as much as a half million for a pair.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
It is the molecule that has the glamour, not the scientists.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
