glower
Americanverb (used without object)
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glowers,
present (3rd person singular)
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glowered,
past participle, past
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glowering
present participle
noun
verb
noun
Synonym Usage
See glare 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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glowersimple
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glowerssimple
-
have gloweredperfect
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has gloweredperfect
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am gloweringprogressive
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are gloweringprogressive
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is gloweringprogressive
-
have been gloweringperfect progressive
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has been gloweringperfect progressive
Past
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gloweredsimple
-
had gloweredperfect
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was gloweringprogressive
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were gloweringprogressive
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had been gloweringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glower
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English ( Scots ) glowren “to glower”; akin to Middle Low German glūren “to be overcast,” Middle Dutch gloeren “to leer”
Explanation
If you see someone glower at you, you might consider glowering back, but no one likes an angry staring contest. To glower is not only to stare, it's to stare angrily, as if you're going to throttle someone. You might already have guessed that glower isn't of Greek or Latin origin, since it doesn't ring any of those bells. Chances are that glower comes from northern Europe, where it's related to some old words that mean to "glow." It was probably in the 18th century that it took on the meaning "stare at angrily or sullenly." You can use its root, glo, to recall its meaning: a person that glowers seems to glow with anger.
Vocabulary lists containing glower
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List 8
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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:
Nonverbal sung chorales often shimmer or glower beneath spoken text.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
You could definitely see it in the witness box: Bankman-Fried was fidgeting throughout, shifting left and right in his seat, and glaring at the courtroom with a low-eyebrow glower and a consistent frown.
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2023
Looking back at 1968, I guess listening to Allen Ginsberg read and seeing Gregory Corso glower and hearing Ed Sanders chant comprised a microcosm of hip that was simply taken for granted.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2022
Bajestani, a convincing Everyman with a charismatic glower, expertly suggests the monster — and the petulant man-child — seething inside the loving, prayerful family man.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
Narcissa murmured a word of thanks, whilst Bellatrix said nothing, but continued to glower at Snape.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Inside the bright vestibule, the face of a protective Gorgon glowers at the visitor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
He glowers at the camera, clean-shaven face superimposed near a cutout of the Dome of the Rock.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2023
He glowers and glares, but one also senses that he's well aware that he looks pitiful.
From Salon ● Apr. 6, 2023
Will Anderson Jr. glowers at the camera like it was an opposing quarterback on third-and-5.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 28, 2022
As I bev 25,24 glowers because their bevs haven’t even been ordered.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
Mostly he glowered and, at times, looked Zen or sleepy.
From Seattle Times ● May 31, 2024
He glowered and eventually tried to leave the courtroom so quickly that he had to be told to sit down by the judge.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2024
Where his alleged co-conspirators displayed varying levels of shock, despair, and derangement, Trump glowered at the camera, creating an indelible photo.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2023
As their laughter echoed down the hallway, stern faces glowered from old black-and-white portraits in gilded frames.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2023
Her black eyes flamed up; she glowered at him as the elevator ceased descending and its doors slid back.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
The image features a glowering Trump leaning on his desk and his signature, with the text of the Declaration of Independence in the background.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
KFC is taking shots at rivals in its marketing, and in restaurants it is making light of the situation, putting up signs featuring a glowering Colonel Sanders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025
“Anybody that doesn’t see that, I don’t know what they’re looking at,” the 73-year-old retiree, a former heavy equipment mechanic, said beneath a glowering sky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2024
He was glowering through pink-rimmed eyes under his combover, every inch the mean man everyone avoids at the retirement home.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2024
She was glowering at Carlisle with a resentful expression.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
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.
