glorify
Americanverb (used with object)
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glorifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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glorified,
past participle, past
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glorifying
present participle
verb
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to make glorious
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to make more splendid; adorn
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to worship, exalt, or adore
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to extol
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to cause to seem more splendid or imposing than reality
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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glorifiernoun
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deglorifyverb (used with object)
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reglorifyverb (used with object)
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glorifiableadjective
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self-glorifiedadjective
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self-glorifyingadjective
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unglorifiedadjective
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unglorifyingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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glorifysimple
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glorifiessimple
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have glorifiedperfect
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has glorifiedperfect
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am glorifyingprogressive
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are glorifyingprogressive
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is glorifyingprogressive
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have been glorifyingperfect progressive
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has been glorifyingperfect progressive
Past
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glorifiedsimple
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had glorifiedperfect
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was glorifyingprogressive
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were glorifyingprogressive
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had been glorifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glorify
1300–50; Middle English < Old French glorifier < Late Latin glōrificāre. See glory, -fy
Explanation
To glorify is to praise or honor something or someone to an extreme degree. If you like someone, you might compliment or praise them, but glorifying takes that a step further. When something is glorified, it is praised to the highest degree possible. It seems right that great people like Martin Luther King and Gandhi are glorified. It can seem odd when athletes are glorified just for playing a game. Often this word is used in a negative sense. For example, a movie with lots of explosions could be said "to glorify violence."
Vocabulary lists containing glorify
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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:
Nawrocki said Kyiv's "decision to glorify the UPA is not only outrageous" but also "deeply disappointing", undermining "reconciliation" between the two nations.
From Barron's ● Jun. 20, 2026
“The campaign to glorify him,” wrote one biographer in 1988, “has surpassed fanatic religious fervor. The North Korean ‘sun of the nation’ shines both day and night, and it is hard to escape his ubiquity.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026
Naturally, such arches tend to glorify the emperor.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2025
TV shows and social media can glorify the idea of student life.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2025
As far as Bach pere, Johann Sebastian, was concerned, the point of music was to glorify God and reflect upon the great mysteries of creation through music of unabashed seriousness.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
“We have a culture that glorifies work,” says Tosti-Kharas, pointing to the ethos of hard work at the core of the American dream.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2025
Even remembering how wide a beach used to be, or how the cliffs once withstood the tide, glorifies the notion that resilience is measured by our ability to remain unchanged.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025
But the organisation says, in reality, it "glorifies thinness and vilifies weight gain" and "promotes disordered eating behaviours."
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2025
“He won’t play in a drama that glamorizes evil or glorifies violence. ‘I’m no nut on that,’ he says, ‘my pictures don’t have to carry a message — but they do have to say something.’
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
Apropos of this history of Queen Mary, Lamartine has written a letter to Beranger, which praises the work exceedingly, but much more glorifies himself.
From The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 3, June, 1851 by Various
Such is their quality, the second-wicket pair turned the remainder of the chase into little more than a glorified net.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
In the meantime, her own Los Angeles abode became more of a glorified closet than a true home.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
Hiding away in a glorified ice chest would also have been a blow to the 80-year-old’s dignity.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
In addition, Paoletta has glorified Thomas as a legal commentator for years, including in a book he edited and in a documentary that features 25 hours of interviews with Thomas about his life.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Another staircase led up to the room where the van Pels family had lived, this one steeper than the last and eighteen steps, essentially a glorified ladder.
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
“Duchamp Takes New York” readily conforms to the predictable narrative about the artist, glorifying his influence and spirit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Sansal may be free, but prominent French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes remains in an Algerian prison, sentenced to seven years for "glorifying terrorism" for having sought to interview an outlawed group.
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
American rapper Kanye West has been blocked from entering Australia over a song glorifying Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025
One of my latest obsessions tantalizing my taste buds and absolutely glorifying the best of spring flavors is Green Garden Pea Dip.
From Salon ● May 10, 2025
Union and community leaders, four white and three black, gave emotional speeches glorifying the strength of a united laboring class.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
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.
