glisten
Americanverb (used without object)
-
glistens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
glistened,
past participle, past
-
glistening
present participle
noun
verb
-
(of a wet or glossy surface) to gleam by reflecting light
wet leaves glisten in the sunlight
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(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
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glistensimple
-
glistenssimple
-
have glistenedperfect
-
has glistenedperfect
-
am glisteningprogressive
-
are glisteningprogressive
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is glisteningprogressive
-
have been glisteningperfect progressive
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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:
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
Why eyes glisten as people rise from their seats when the orchestra reaches the rousing conclusion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2024
After a hundred yards, a glisten of gray ripples appeared beyond the trees: some wide body of water.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
"In the sunlight, the horse glistens" thanks to its "fine, hollow-core hair, which reflects light differently."
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 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
A midday sun glistens across the vaulted glass roof of this century-old exhibition hall in the heart of the city.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2024
It clothes the statue of the archangel Gabriel atop the bell tower on St. Mark’s Square and glistens in the mosaics on the facade of St. Mark’s Basilica, aptly nicknamed “the Golden Church.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2024
His bald patch glistens from a glint of leaded-window light.
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
I sat at my final breakfast, a perfect double espresso breathed its steam, the bread still warm, the smear glistened and pooled in the nooks.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2025
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
The only noticeable difference throughout those years has been the color of her hair, which glistened Sunday underneath the Crypto.com Arena’s lights.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 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
Yards of silk, clouds of powder, brushes, combs, pearls, and diamonds glistened before Celaena’s eyes.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
The Essex parliamentary seat includes rural villages, thousands of hectares of farmland and several seaside towns and villages with glistening golden beaches including Jaywick, Frinton and Walton-on-the-Naze.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
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
Flanking a stage near the monorail station, you’ll find a glistening white tower, the work of artist and activist Nikkolas Smith, who has adopted the term “artivist.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
A salmon so consistently coral, so perfectly sliced that it melts in your mouth, glistening with so much naturally rich Omega-3s that it’s like a fatty halo shining on the plate.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026
“I’m pretty sure my eyesight is ruined from the sun glistening off all that shiny golden hair,” she says.
From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone
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.
