Showing Results for "gloating"

See Also:

• present participle of gloat.

gloating

American  

[gloh-ting] / ˈgloʊ tɪŋ /

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.

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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

Derived Forms

• ungloating
  adjective
• gloatingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of gloating

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

Example Sentences

I won’t join in the gloating of some critics at the hundreds who have lost their jobs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026

Three is either a charm or a curse – depending on your point of view – and there are plenty of people gloating or kvetching today.

From Salon • Nov. 7, 2024

Back in the 1990s, the California-as-disaster-epic narrative was tinged with some gloating — a comeuppance for a star-making destination that for decades was America’s post-war wonderland.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 6, 2024

The Senegalese foreign ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador in Dakar to protest after he posted a Facebook video about Mr Yusov’s gloating comments.

From BBC • Aug. 11, 2024

And to Kino the secret melody of the maybe pearl broke clear and beautiful, rich and warm and lovely, glowing and gloating and triumphant.

From "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck