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Synonyms

glint

American  
[glint] / glɪnt /

noun

glints plural
  1. a tiny, quick flash of light.

    Synonyms:
    glimmer, gleam
  2. gleaming brightness; luster.

  3. a brief or slight manifestation or occurrence; inkling; trace.


verb (used without object)

glints, present (3rd person singular) glinted, past participle, past glinting present participle
  1. to shine with a glint.

  2. to move suddenly; dart.

verb (used with object)

glints, present (3rd person singular) glinted, past participle, past glinting present participle
  1. to cause to glint; reflect.

glint British  
/ ɡlɪnt /

verb

  1. to gleam or cause to gleam brightly

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a bright gleam or flash

  2. brightness or gloss

  3. a brief indication

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

See flash.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of glint

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English glint, variant of obsolete glent; compare Danish glente, Swedish dialect glänta “to glimpse, brighten”

Explanation

A glint is a brief flash or flicker of light. You might enjoy gazing at the glint of light on the water as you lie on the beach in the summer time. You can use the word glint as a noun or a verb: your brother's braces might glint in the afternoon sun, and freshly fallen snow sometimes glints under streetlamps at night. Glint is a Scottish word, first coined in the late 1700s, that comes from the Middle English glenten, "gleam, flash, or glisten." Its ultimate root is Scandinavian, possibly from the same root as the word glass.

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Vocabulary lists containing glint

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 was as a trainer that he excelled though, and his Kingsclere yard in Newbury produced many Group One victors, including Glint Of Gold, Selkirk, Lochsong and most notably Mill Reef.

From BBC • Jan. 2, 2026

Customers can use Glint to purchase gold, which is held in a vault in Switzerland, and spend their holdings using a Mastercard.

From Reuters • Apr. 27, 2022

Jason Cozens, founder and CEO of gold trading and investment app Glint Pay, has also seen strong demand to use gold as a currency.

From Reuters • Apr. 27, 2022

"Our target is to be producing panels that are roughly equivalent, on a per-area cost, with silicon modules," said Glint CEO Peter Kozody at the ARPA-E summit this week.

From Scientific American • Feb. 12, 2015

They had a water-spring, honey-boxes or baskets for the bees in the Ollaconda-trees, a shed or huddle of green branches, for Glint, and a big patch of Ummuz-cane.

From The Three Mulla-mulgars by De la Mare, Walter

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