glimmer
Americannoun
-
glimmers
plural
-
a faint or unsteady light; gleam.
-
a dim perception; inkling.
verb (used without object)
-
glimmers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
glimmered,
past participle, past
-
glimmering
present participle
-
to shine faintly or unsteadily; twinkle, shimmer, or flicker.
-
to appear faintly or dimly.
verb
-
(of a light, candle, etc) to glow faintly or flickeringly
-
to be indicated faintly
hope glimmered in his face
noun
-
a glow or twinkle of light
-
a faint indication
Synonym Usage
See gleam.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
glimmersimple
-
glimmerssimple
-
have glimmeredperfect
-
has glimmeredperfect
-
am glimmeringprogressive
-
are glimmeringprogressive
-
is glimmeringprogressive
-
have been glimmeringperfect progressive
-
has been glimmeringperfect progressive
Past
-
glimmeredsimple
-
had glimmeredperfect
-
was glimmeringprogressive
-
were glimmeringprogressive
-
had been glimmeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glimmer
1300–50; Middle English glimeren “to gleam”; cognate with German glimmern; compare Old English gleomu “splendor”
Explanation
A glimmer is a tiny glint of light or the sliver of an idea. Either way, it's a sign of a lot more going on behind the scenes. A glimmer of light is just a little bit of light, maybe sneaking through the curtains enough to make a flicker on the floor. A glimmer of an idea is just a small inkling of an idea. When someone doesn't understand something, you could make them feel worse by saying, "You don't have a glimmer of what I'm talking about, do you?" When it comes to light, you can also say light is glimmering, or gleaming. People often say stars are glimmering.
Vocabulary lists containing glimmer
"Harrison Bergeron"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Of Mice and Men"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
The establishment of an Amazon "fulfilment centre" at Gourock provided a glimmer of hope in the early 2000s but that too shut down three years ago.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
There was a brief glimmer of hope Servite would come back when it scored a touchdown to make the score 34-21 with five minutes left.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
The first glimmer of our AI future revealed itself a decade ago in the form of a single black stone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Monday’s report had another glimmer of good news: Delinquency rates appear to be stabilizing, and fewer accounts are paying just the bare minimum.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Her eyes glimmer at the sight of it.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
For those of us who actually do like crepes, though, there are some glimmers of hope.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Some glimmers of hope have emerged from what we do know.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
The party is pointing to some glimmers of hope among these election results, including Westminster and holding on to other councils such as Harlow, Broxbourne, Bexley and Fareham.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
Even as graduate hiring shows early glimmers of a rebound, summer internship opportunities appear to be getting scarcer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
But just as in his freshman season, he showed glimmers of promise.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Beats hummed, lights glimmered and about 200 young men and women traded emerald-green tiles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
In a small village further up the beach, Christmas lights glimmered in the dark.
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2023
Then, as he did throughout the night, Clemons took center stage and wailed on his sax that glimmered in the setting sun.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2023
At night, they glimmered across the water: Twenty-five thousand tiny LEDs, stretching 1.8 miles across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco to Oakland.
From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2023
As it snarled, its large teeth glimmered in the moonlight, spit hanging from its enormous mouth.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
And while the movie’s legacy looks a little more macabre now, Panettiere and Trachtenberg’s glimmering performances are enough to push through the darkness.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
Alongside the spectacle of execution and the glimmering blood, Mary, John, St. Dominic and others beside Christ in many of these frescos cover their faces or turn away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026
But “Ankhmerwer”—gorgeously inscribed and illustrated and sprinkled with glimmering gold shrines, crowns, birds, gods and sun disks—rewards close looking and empathetic eyes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
In the closing shot, the words "we belong together" appeared over a sea of bodies dancing beneath glimmering lights at the show.
From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2026
He looked back and fancied that he could see the lights of Wall behind him, wavering and glimmering as if in a heat-haze, but still inviting.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
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.
