- present participle of gleam.
gleaming
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of gleaming
Explanation
Teeth in toothpaste commercials are gleaming. They sparkle when the light hits. When you see this word, think of a bright reflected ray of light, on teeth, on water, or in someone's smiling eyes. A new skyscraper that reflects light might also be described as gleaming. If you are excited to move to a new place, someone might say that your eyes are gleaming with excitement, especially as you view the gleaming wood floors and gleaming freshly-washed windows of your new home. The word has a clean, glittering, sparkly feel to it.
Vocabulary lists containing gleaming
A Long Walk to Water
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The Star-Spangled Banner
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Brown Girl Dreaming
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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.
It is now a sophisticated, cosmopolitan hub with gleaming Cartier boutiques, avant-garde art installations and luxury districts dotted with Michelin-star restaurants.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
Another massive piece, “Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE,” resurrects the medieval city of Kumbi Saleh, the capital of the ancient Ghanaian empire, as a gleaming, futuristic hub.
From Salon • Apr. 26, 2026
The block is about to be demolished to make way for a gleaming new residential complex, and the mosaic is to be torn down.
From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026
It’s nearly 90 degrees on a Saturday in South-Central and “sister dreamer lauren halsey’s architectural ode to tha surge n splurge of south central los angeles” is gleaming and activated.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026
A gleaming jet-black top-of-the-line Jaguar coupe performed a tread-melting illegal U-turn, much to the horror of the cab coming head-on.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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.
