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.
But instead of disappearing beneath the Atlantic waves – the Titanic is depicted sinking in a desert, a glen, and other non-maritime landscapes.
From BBC • Dec. 27, 2025
"It's quite tough to see, it's not just the trees that are gone, all the wildlife in the glen has been devastated too," she said.
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
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
First, we dropped Luke and Ms. Sharon at the Hudsons’ home in a wooded glen, and then Ms. Beth took me about ten miles farther to Crystal River.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
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.
