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
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(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
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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
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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:
He looked lost — like, I thought, someone whose too-often dejected body language told us the glare of Dodger Stadium’s bright lights would do more damage than help.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 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
They then applied advanced processing techniques to remove glare from the much brighter host star.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026
The glare Nate gives Rhys could cut glass, and my butterflies get in line.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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
The agency said the crashes involved reduced roadway visibility, with fog or glares from the sun.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2024
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
She glares at me, but it gives way quickly.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
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
And when Westbrook scored, he frequently glared at the Clippers’ bench.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2025
A group of nuns clad in grey and white glared at a man who, headphones in, was dancing around the square.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2025
Especially every time I looked at Mrs. Brisbane and she glared back at me.
From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney
They’re peppy and fruity … and a glaring recession indicator.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
“Europe faces glaring gaps across both launch and spacecraft manufacturing.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 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
In the words of one 1930s journalist quoted by Mr. Dillon, the glaring inequities of Shanghai in the 19th and early 20th centuries made it “a complete political ulcer on the face of China.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
She popped back up a second later, glaring at Dodger as she shivered and gasped for breath.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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.
