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
Sombr, for all his commercial success, hasn’t been as warmly embraced by tastemakers; some have described his darkly glossy pop-rock as the work of a so-called industry plant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
The spread already offers plenty of visual interest: bread piled high, bowls of herbs, cheerful wedges of citrus, golden cornbread, glossy bottles of oil and vinegar.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
Some were intact and she was surprised to see they still contained a viscous, glossy residue.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
He wrote his own op-ed for Granger’s glossy alumni magazine, discussing his disappointment with the lack of respect for tradition.
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
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
Long-faded glossies with names like Holiday, Venture and Horizon sent her to faraway lands and paid her handsomely, though she talked about money as “a constant worry.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 18, 2022
None of the other 14 contestants, though, can flex that they were a sous chef at Noma, which is often cited by many glossies and awards as the world’s best restaurant.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 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 begins as separate elements becomes something looser, glossier, edged in caramelization.
From Salon ● Mar. 23, 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
Although Doherty and the characters she played usually seemed to inhabit a glossier, more beautiful world, she was always someone viewers could relate to on screen, and was a self-proclaimed "badass" in real life.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2024
I think I could give him a few tips from my own professional experience: his peach halves could be glossier, for instance.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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
As she was preparing to release “Crash,” the glossiest album of her career as a solo pop artist, Charli XCX was in the doldrums.
From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2022
He was dressed in a common gray blouse and velvet cap, but his carefully arranged hair, beard and mustache, all of the richest and glossiest black, ill accorded with his plebeian attire.
From The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père
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