glee
1 Americanverb (used without object)
noun
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a squint.
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an imperfect eye, especially one with a cast.
noun
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great merriment or delight, often caused by someone else's misfortune
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a type of song originating in 18th-century England, sung by three or more unaccompanied voices Compare madrigal
Related Words
See mirth.
Etymology
Origin of glee1
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English glēo; cognate with Old Norse glȳ; akin to glow
Origin of glee2
1250–1300; Middle English glien, gleen; perhaps < Scandinavian; compare Old Norse gljā to shine
Explanation
If you learned that you'd won a trip for four to Disney World, it would be hard to hide your glee. Glee means extreme happiness or delight. Anything that makes you full of joy, so happy you could laugh out loud, fills you with glee. If your favorite football team wins the Super Bowl, your glee will make you cheer, and a kid let loose with a ten dollar bill in a candy shop might dance around with glee. In the 1700s and 1800s, a glee was a song written for men's a cappella singing groups, which were sometimes called glee clubs.
Vocabulary lists containing glee
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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.
The question hung over October’s Yale Family Weekend, as parents partook of cherished traditions like performances by the Yale Glee Club, lectures by distinguished faculty and tours of the neo-Gothic-style campus.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 10, 2025
All's Fair reunites the star with American Horror Story showrunner Ryan Murphy, who is also behind hit series such as Glee and Pose.
From BBC • Nov. 3, 2025
The Loves grew up in Baldwin Hills, and Stan was the fourth of six children to Milt and Glee Love.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2025
He has also acted in television shows such as The Nanny, Glee and Awkwafina is Nora from Queens.
From BBC • Jan. 6, 2024
In 2011, he signed on as a coproducer and writer of NBC’s Glee.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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.
