gloating

[gloh-ting]

noun

1. the act of looking at or speaking or thinking about something with excessive, usually smug or malicious satisfaction.

   For all our gloating about how progressive we are on issues of race and sexual orientation, we lag behind on some other human rights issues.

adjective

1. looking at or speaking or thinking about something in this way.

   Asked about the protester's arrest, the mayor said with a gloating smile, "I wish him luck.”

Other Word Forms

• gloatingly adverb
• ungloating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of gloating¹

First recorded in 1575–85; gloat ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun; gloat ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective

Example Sentences

They spent the first quarter hour of their walk gloating.

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Republicans might want to hold off on the gloating.

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The BBC learned earlier this week that the hackers sent an abuse-filled email directly to M&S's boss on 23 April, gloating about what they had done and demanding payment.

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An abusive email sent by the Marks & Spencer hackers to the retailer's boss gloating about the hack and demanding payment has been seen by the BBC.

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This is the same Musk who spent months gloating about how he's ruining the lives of thousands of people with his reckless attacks on federal employees.

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