glint
Americannoun
-
glints
plural
verb (used without object)
-
glints,
present (3rd person singular)
-
glinted,
past participle, past
-
glinting
present participle
-
to shine with a glint.
-
to move suddenly; dart.
verb (used with object)
-
glints,
present (3rd person singular)
-
glinted,
past participle, past
-
glinting
present participle
verb
noun
-
a bright gleam or flash
-
brightness or gloss
-
a brief indication
Synonym Usage
See flash.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
glintsimple
-
glintssimple
-
have glintedperfect
-
has glintedperfect
-
am glintingprogressive
-
are glintingprogressive
-
is glintingprogressive
-
have been glintingperfect progressive
-
has been glintingperfect progressive
Past
-
glintedsimple
-
had glintedperfect
-
was glintingprogressive
-
were glintingprogressive
-
had been glintingperfect progressive
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.
Vocabulary lists containing glint
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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Prisoner B-3087
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A Long Way from Chicago
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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:
His poems can seem like black crystals; hold them to the light and they glint with ash, Scripture, lovers’ voices and breath.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
If it doesn’t glint in the light, I’m not interested.
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2026
Netflix’s purchase of WBD would result in a “big market share” he says with a glint in his eye.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
There’s a glint of drama in that Neytiri doesn’t want to risk a custody skirmish with Spider’s biological father.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2025
But beneath the outward beauty, I saw the hard gloss of tenacity and the steely glint of determination.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
A few of the people, including a man with a camera, stared at the sky, studying the way the smoke rose and shifted, letting in glints of light and then closing again.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2025
As she walked, she examined the crowds and remarked when glints of interest caught her eye.
From New York Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
Across our own solar system, scientists can detect the presence of liquid oceans by observing "glints" -- flashes of sunlight that reflect off liquid surfaces.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 28, 2023
The flowers embossed on the bottle suggest spring, and the pink wine within glints of sunlight.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2023
Light glints from Grace’s glassy eyes as she watches me sideways.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Dressed in a layered outfit, Multani’s right wrist glinted with a Kara — an iron bracelet, known as one of five articles of Sikh faith — decorated with Punjabi language script and proudly visible.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
Diver Mags Martin said: "Because we had torches, it glinted in the torchlight."
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2025
On a recent Friday, the ruffled surface of Hood Canal glinted in the sun, while a favorable shoreward breeze kept the ambient temperature exactly perfect.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 10, 2023
Back at the tea room, Chao lifted her teacup to her lips as light glinted off the silver rings that circled her fingers.
From New York Times ● Mar. 20, 2023
The sequins on her tutu caught the light and glinted like jewels.
From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon
His third delivery, one followed with a glinting glare, beat the edge of Henry Nicholls' bat.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
The small canvas shows a young woman set on a dark background, her head turned towards the viewer and a pearl earring glinting from beneath her blue and cream turban.
From Barron's ● Jan. 8, 2026
"It's like many, many thousands of rotating, glinting ruffled potato chips."
From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2025
Beneath that are breathtaking photos: sunlight glinting off a placid lake; a dirt road leading up a verdant hill; a haunting photo of the buttes at sunset — from a distance.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2024
In that glacier of words grinding toward the twentieth century, Prendergast’s card was a single fragment of mica glinting with lunacy, pleading to be picked up and pocketed.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
