glossy
Americanadjective
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smooth and shiny; lustrous
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superficially attractive; plausible
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(of a magazine) lavishly produced on shiny paper and usually with many colour photographs
noun
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Also called (US): slick. an expensively produced magazine, typically a sophisticated fashion or glamour magazine, printed on shiny paper and containing high quality colour photography Compare pulp
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a photograph printed on paper that has a smooth shiny surface
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of glossy
Explanation
Something that is glossy is something that shines or is attractive. Things that are glossy reflect light, like certain types of lipstick. Glossy paper is smooth and has a shine to it, like the paper of most calendars. The word glossy sounds a little bit like the word glassy, which is a good way to remember it. Things that are glossy sort of look like glass, meaning they have a shine to them. After your teeth are cleaned, they'll hopefully look glossy. When you print photographs, you can choose a glossy finish — that’s when the image looks shiny and smooth. In that instance, the opposite of glossy is matte, a sort of rougher finish that doesn’t reflect light.
Vocabulary lists containing glossy
List 3
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Goodbye Stranger
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Let There Be Light: Synonyms for "Bright"
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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:
It can be a jarring shift for students, because college communications before the commitment deadline include glossy magazines with nice photos of campuses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
This matte surface is more tedious to clean than a glossy screen, however—you really need a microfiber cloth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Evans initially seems to think they’re participating in a project closer to Netflix’s glossy portrait of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
A glossy video was shown during the event, with people speaking to and naming animated versions of their "dots," then giving them various tasks, like building a website and booking afterschool activities for their children.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
The top shelf holds the biggest boxes, encased in glossy wrappers.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
They fit as naturally in cheap pulp magazines as in upmarket literary glossies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Carter’s detailed account of the overhead and rigorous scheduling that go into running a magazine is eye-opening, and makes it pretty easy to see why so many glossies didn’t survive the digital transition.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2025
An art lover who drew inspiration from painters as diverse as Bosch, Vermeer and Picasso, Mr. Sokolsky churned out arresting images that seemed as appropriate for gallery walls as they were for fashion glossies.
From New York Times ● Sep. 14, 2022
The well-made rock ‘n’ roll glossies on the market, like Mojo or Uncut, are British-based.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2022
All the glossies I’d pored over in my bedroom at home, admiring the gymnasts who’d reached the top of the sport.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
What had been brothy turned to something thicker, glossier — golden, almost velvety.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2026
The budget for microdramas is usually between $100,000 and $250,000 for an entire season, compared with millions of dollars for glossier full-length shows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
Glossy is glossy, but for a few seconds, we believe that some gloss is glossier than others.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2024
The “Hazbin” pilot was weird and quirky, with outlandish humor and mature themes, and so is the series, even as it feels bigger, glossier and more expensive.
From New York Times ● Jan. 22, 2024
All of them were from male cormorants whose feathers are thicker than those of the females and much glossier.
From "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell
And today, F1 isn’t merely one of Apple’s glossiest global partners with a blockbuster movie to show for it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
For those still determined to aim for the furthest, glossiest reaches of the Benjamin Moore color wheel, there are some caveats.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2023
The U.K. pop rockers return to Sodo at their glossiest, riding high on this year’s ballyhooed “Being Funny in a Foreign Language.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 16, 2022
Amazon’s utilitarian shopping interface is far from the glossiest on the web, a fact that may have something to do with its slow progress in capturing market share in fashion retail.
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2017
His linen was of the very whitest, finest, and stiffest; his wig of the glossiest, blackest, and curliest.
From The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
