glen
noun
a small, narrow, secluded valley.
glen
1 American
[glen]
/ glɛn /
noun
-
glens
plural
Glen
2
American
[glen]
/ glɛn /
noun
glen
British
/ ɡlɛn /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of glen
1480–90; < Irish, Scots Gaelic gleann; cognate with Welsh glynn
Explanation
A glen is a narrow valley deep in the mountains. Glens often form streams. The top of a mountain is the peak, and the lower parts are valleys. A glen is a valley that's narrow and secluded—it’s deep in the mountains. A glen could form a stream, or it could be lush and green. If you are on top of a mountain looking down, you may see several glens.
Vocabulary lists containing glen
St. Patrick's Day Vocabulary: Words With Irish and Gaelic Roots
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"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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First-Name Basis: Words That Are Also Names
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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:
According to the trust, thousands of years ago the glen would have been a native woodland but it was left bare by human intervention such as grazing sheep and deer.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2025
Each non-Pee-wee appearance required the audience to recalibrate our expectations and remove Reubens from the glen plaid suits and pomade-slicked hairdo for which we came to know him.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2023
In a leafy glen in a very small, beautiful moment, the trees watched too.
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2022
Tomlin: Well, the first time I’m over the hill, I have a lovely, beautiful glen.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2022
They traveled for the remainder of the day, and the assassin sat in silence as she watched the forest pass, the tightness in her chest not easing until they’d left that shimmering glen far behind.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
To work with Collins, Navatek hired a lobbyist, Glen Mandigo, who also lobbied for the University of Maine and was tight with her office.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
Satellite images captured the dramatic change in Lake Powell near Glen Canyon Dam.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
At age 14, Glen Walsh started surfing because of a crush.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Major cities in the Newark division include Elizabeth, Morristown, Montclair, Newark, as well as smaller commuter towns such as Short Hills and Glen Ridge.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
“Or if they do, they’re like Ginny and Dickie—sorry, Mrs. Koong and Mr. McGinity—who don’t remember anything, even though as, like, the Romeo and Juliet of Shady Glen, they must have such a good story.”
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
The glen is a large area of thickly wooded hillsides and glens with a river, streams and lochs south of Inverness.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2024
Although most of the park fills up daily with birthday parties, off-leash dogs, and brass bands, it’s also home to a network of shady glens, murmuring creeks, and still ponds.
From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2023
Indeed, consumers may want their vehicles not only to look good in, say, a wooded glen, but also to project the very idea that they care about wooded glens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2023
Knoydart is one of the most rugged and remote parts of the British Isles, accessible only by boat or via a two-day hike through glacier-sculpted glens and mountains.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2022
In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
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.
