glow
Americannoun
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glows
plural
-
a light emitted by or as if by a substance heated to luminosity; incandescence.
-
brightness of color.
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a sensation or state of bodily heat.
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a warm, ruddy color of the cheeks.
-
warmth of emotion or passion; ardor.
verb (used without object)
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glows,
present (3rd person singular)
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glowed,
past participle, past
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glowing
present participle
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to emit bright light and heat without flame; become incandescent.
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to shine like something intensely heated.
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to exhibit a strong, bright color; be lustrously red or brilliant.
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(of the cheeks) to exhibit a healthy, warm, ruddy color.
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to become or feel very warm or hot.
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to show emotion or elation.
to glow with pride.
noun
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light emitted by a substance or object at a high temperature
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a steady even light without flames
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brilliance or vividness of colour
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brightness or ruddiness of complexion
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a feeling of wellbeing or satisfaction
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intensity of emotion; ardour
verb
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to emit a steady even light without flames
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to shine intensely, as if from great heat
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to be exuberant or high-spirited, as from excellent health or intense emotion
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to experience a feeling of wellbeing or satisfaction
to glow with pride
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(esp of the complexion) to show a strong bright colour, esp a shade of red
-
to be very hot
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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glowsimple
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glowssimple
-
have glowedperfect
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has glowedperfect
-
am glowingprogressive
-
are glowingprogressive
-
is glowingprogressive
-
have been glowingperfect progressive
-
has been glowingperfect progressive
Past
-
glowedsimple
-
had glowedperfect
-
was glowingprogressive
-
were glowingprogressive
-
had been glowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glow
First recorded before 1000; Middle English glowen (verb), Old English glōwan; akin to German glühen, Old Norse glōa
Explanation
To glow is to shine with light. On a clear night when the moon is full, it glows in the sky. A nightlight glows in a dark room, and a distant flashlight beam glows like a candle. Other things that glow include fireflies, TV screens, and city lights when seen from an airplane at night. A person's face can also be said to glow, when it's shining and flushed with health or happiness. The radiance of light or pleasure itself can also be called a glow, from the Old English glowan, "to shine as if red-hot."
Vocabulary lists containing glow
All Aglow: Light Lingo
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 5
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This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for March 6–12, 2021
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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:
Now, Double Chooz has added another first to its scientific record by detecting the faint neutrino glow that continues after a nuclear reactor goes dark.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
Crowds along the path of the total eclipse in Spain were treated to that rare event - with the red glow of the Sun behind the Moon to go with it.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
As the light slowly faded in Tarragona, on the Mediterranean coast, a crowd looked on in almost reverent silence as the orange, late-afternoon glow gave way to amost complete darkness.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
My husband stepped into the glow of the television, a gentle, almost apologetic look on his face.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
The setting sun bathed the forest in a ruddy glow.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Launched in the clubbing capital of Ibiza, it's targeted toward clubbers and festival-goers, and one of its ingredients, vitamin B2, is naturally luminescent and glows under UV club lights.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
More than 60 years after her death, Monroe still glows brightly in the Hollywood firmament.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
On my final morning Puistokahvila Makia glows gold against a blue commute.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026
But a small and unusual group barely glows at all.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 21, 2026
He turns off the light, and from the hall to the adjoining teen stasis room, a faint green light glows on the floor.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Like the store’s sign, the sky glowed Big Orange, hex code #F96302, or Pantone 165 C, available in the paint department inside.
From Slate ● Jan. 27, 2026
The dining room glowed like a film set, its gently arched brick and brass softening Barcelona’s usual edge.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2025
Sections of charred scaffolding fell from the burning apartment blocks in hellish scenes late on Wednesday, as flames inside apartments sometimes belched out through windows into a night sky that glowed orange.
From Barron's ● Nov. 27, 2025
They added a molecular tag to the spherical nucleic acids that glowed under near-infrared light.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2025
Below us, village lights glowed in the shadow of the hills as twilight descended.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
LVMvis includes an RGB HiPS emission-line map that allows users to explore the distribution and structure of glowing gas across the sky.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
From this height and with the southern horizon glowing orange it feels like a preview.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
The series received glowing reviews for its hangout vibe and a lack of the global stakes that often burden Marvel projects.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Shudu has a tall, lean figure and an immaculate, glowing complexion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
The gigantic web falls apart, and we all hit the glowing ground.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
