glare
1 Americannoun
verb (used without object)
-
glares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
glared,
past participle, past
-
glaring
present participle
-
to shine with or reflect a very harsh, bright, dazzling light.
-
to stare with a fiercely or angrily piercing look.
-
Archaic. to appear conspicuous; stand out obtrusively.
verb (used with object)
-
glares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
glared,
past participle, past
-
glaring
present participle
noun
verb
-
(intr) to stare angrily; glower
-
(tr) to express by glowering
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(intr) (of light, colour, etc) to be very bright and intense
-
(intr) to be dazzlingly ornamented or garish
noun
-
an angry stare
-
a dazzling light or brilliance
-
garish ornamentation or appearance; gaudiness
adjective
Synonym Usage
See shine 1. Glare, glower, gloat all have connotations of emotion that accompany an intense gaze. To glare is to look piercingly or angrily: A tiger glares at its prey. To glower is to look fiercely and threateningly, as from wrath; it suggests a scowl along with a glare: to glower at a mischievous child. To gloat meant originally to look with exultation, avaricious or malignant, on something or someone: a tyrant gloating over the helplessness of his victim. Today, however, it may simply imply inner exultation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
glaresimple
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glaressimple
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have glaredperfect
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has glaredperfect
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am glaringprogressive
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are glaringprogressive
-
is glaringprogressive
-
have been glaringperfect progressive
-
has been glaringperfect progressive
Past
-
glaredsimple
-
had glaredperfect
-
was glaringprogressive
-
were glaringprogressive
-
had been glaringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glare1
First recorded in 1250–1300; (for the verb) Middle English glaren; cognate with Middle Dutch, Middle Low German glaren; akin to glass (compare Old English glæren “glassy”); noun derivative of the verb
Origin of glare2
First recorded in 1560–70; special use of glare 1
Explanation
When you drive, you pull down your visors to block the glare, or the blinding light from the sun. The "rocket's red glare" from the national anthem is the bright light you'd see as a rocket shoots through the sky. Imagine the twinge of pain you get when you suddenly see the glare of a strong flash of bright light. Now imagine this light coming from an angry person's eyes towards you. This angry look is called a glare. If someone glares at you, be careful you don't get attacked! Glare can also mean the spotlight of public attention.
Vocabulary lists containing glare
The Diary of Anne Frank
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Words from the 4th of July Songbook
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Nothing But the Truth
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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.
See Examples For:
She conjures a bewitching onscreen presence that many of her contemporaries could only dream of, pulling the viewer’s gaze with a single glare from her steely eyes or the quiver of her chin.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
The glare of the metal painted a mirage in the desiccated swap meet landscape, emitting an orb of heat and undeniable beauty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
And during heated exchanges in the Oval Office in February that year, both raised their voices during an argument in the full glare of television cameras.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
The risk was especially high at night and in poor weather, when they were blinded by the glare of headlights.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
She whipped around and met Brigit's angry blue glare.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Behind it all is a Pittsburgh native, you-know-who, head coach Curt Cignetti, the sideline stern face who still glares at his charges like it’s spring practice and someone just dropped two punts a row.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 10, 2026
A massive "Home Furnishings" banner glares over the line of grubby once-white caravans, many with padlocked doors and windows taped shut.
From BBC ● May 2, 2025
Drawing on the icy glares of 21 Savage and Young Nudy, but with a growly, punkish urgency, who can’t relate to a mixtape titled, simply, “F- School.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
Unlike her glares that torpedoed Jo Koy at the Golden Globes, Swift appeared to be enjoying Noah.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
Aunt Pooh glares at me in the rearview mirror.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
This meant she regularly passed the accused and their family, who "glared" at jurors and had to be removed by police after an "outburst", leaving Gerrard feeling especially vulnerable.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
Back on Tasman Drive, tourists excitedly posed for pictures next to a speed bump sign as a grumbling resident glared at them.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
As the SDF convoy rolled by, men and boys glared from storefronts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
When prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked Pecker why Trump was grateful to him for hiding the affairs, Pecker paused momentarily as Trump glared at him from across the courtroom.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2024
The giant porcupine across the meadow glared back.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Even before the summer rush, nerves were on edge; a January 4 breakdown in the communication system linking air traffic controllers and aircraft had laid bare a glaring weakness.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
They’re peppy and fruity … and a glaring recession indicator.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
By late July, as Hearn’s defense counsel moved for release of the grand jury transcripts to expose glaring prosecutorial irregularities, Pirro’s case collapsed.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
The glaring light is practically a character in “Sisters of the Midnight Sun,” Ms. Stevens’s compelling account of a disturbing murder case she worked on in the early 1990s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Patrice is glaring at him so hard her nostrils are flaring.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
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.
