glisten
Americanverb (used without object)
noun
verb
-
(of a wet or glossy surface) to gleam by reflecting light
wet leaves glisten in the sunlight
-
(of light) to reflect with brightness
the sunlight glistens on wet leaves
noun
Synonym Usage
Glisten, shimmer, sparkle refer to different ways in which light is reflected from surfaces. Glisten refers to a lustrous light, as from something sleek or wet, or it may refer to myriads of tiny gleams reflected from small surfaces: Wet fur glistens. Snow glistens in the sunlight. Shimmer refers to the changing play of light on a (generally moving) surface, as of water or silk: Moonbeams shimmer on water. Silk shimmers in a high light. To sparkle is to give off sparks or small ignited particles, or to send forth small but brilliant gleams, sometimes by reflection: A diamond sparkles with numerous points of light.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
glistensimple
-
glistenssimple
-
have glistenedperfect
-
has glistenedperfect
-
am glisteningprogressive
-
are glisteningprogressive
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is glisteningprogressive
-
have been glisteningperfect progressive
-
has been glisteningperfect progressive
Past
-
glistenedsimple
-
had glistenedperfect
-
was glisteningprogressive
-
were glisteningprogressive
-
had been glisteningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glisten
First recorded before 1000; Middle English glis(t)nen (verb), Old English glisnian, derivative of glisian “to glitter; ” see -en 1
Explanation
Glisten is a verb meaning that something looks shiny, like it's wet. Rocks on the beach glisten in the sun. And your sister’s prom dress, covered in sequins, no doubt will glisten under the disco ball. The word glisten can also be used metaphorically. After you tossed and turned throughout the night, in the morning, you could see the perfect solution glisten right in front of you. As a noun, a glisten is a bright shine. When you are driving into the setting sun, the glisten of the sun on the hood of the car makes it hard to see.
Vocabulary lists containing glisten
Unit 1: Telling Details
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"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
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Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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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:
Under the glow of fluorescent lights at Seafood City market in North Hills, packages of pre-made adobo, salted shrimp fry and and dried anchovies glisten in meat coolers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025
Silver pearls glisten on the men’s foreheads and their eyes are sunken deep in their pale faces, framed in a stubble of beard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
This is where the dip starts to glisten.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2025
At fish counters across Long Island, imported salmon fillets glisten in greater profusion than local mackerel and black sea bass.
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2024
They had rigged a floodlight, which made the wet rocks glisten brilliantly.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
"In the sunlight, the horse glistens" thanks to its "fine, hollow-core hair, which reflects light differently."
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
And then there’s Nico, looking like everybody’s big brother at spring practices, smack-talking and celebrating the guys, as engaged as Chesney but easier to spot because his golden helmet glistens above everyone else’s.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
The morning frost glistens, and—in a clever device—the low sun glimmers through a row of unseen, leafless trees behind the artist, casting crisscrossing, rhythmic shadows on the furrows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
There, in the front window, glistens a massive Maria Theresa-style chandelier that once shimmered in the hotel’s ballroom, its many crystals winking at you in the refracted light.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2024
His forehead glistens over with sweat, the curve of it like a hazelnut.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Sweat glistened on his head and pooled on his undershirt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2024
Before that, I had a mermaid-inspired gel nail set that glistened like when the sun beats on tropical waters.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2024
Skies were clear and the water glistened, making conditions perfect for dropping instruments hundreds of metres down and hauling up traps filled with sediment or microscopic marine life.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2024
As the boat pulled out of Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, schools of juvenile menhaden, or peanut bunker, glistened at the edges of the inlet, as though to highlight her point.
From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2024
The oyster glistened in a translucent liquor that spilled onto Toomer’s hand.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
He also came to treasure his time mowing the fairways each morning before the golfers arrived, the dew glistening on the grass while the nibbling, untroubled deer looked on from the rough.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
It features plenty of glistening seafood, market produce and local delicacies, alongside Tucci telling the story of a people for whom family and rituals hold communities together.
From BBC ● May 9, 2026
Blonde hair, broad smile, arms glistening with sweat from the heat, she didn’t hesitate: she hugged us immediately.
From Salon ● Jan. 27, 2026
If I angle my head down, I see the glistening lights of the Santa Monica Pier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2026
Mollie watched the glistening white coffin sink into the ground until the long, haunting wails were replaced by the sound of earth clapping against the lid.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
