glowing
Americanadjective
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rich and warm in coloring.
glowing colors.
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showing the radiance of health, excitement, etc..
glowing cheeks.
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warmly favorable or complimentary.
a glowing account of her work.
- Synonyms:
- unstinting, rapturous, enthusiastic, wholehearted, ardent
adjective
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emitting a steady bright light without flames
glowing embers
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warm and rich in colour
the room was decorated in glowing shades of gold and orange
-
flushed and rosy, as from exercise or excitement
glowing cheeks
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displaying or indicative of extreme satisfaction, pride, or emotion
he gave a glowing account of his son's achievements
Other Word Forms
- glowingly adverb
- unglowing adjective
Etymology
Origin of glowing
before 1000; Middle English glowynge, Old English glowende. See glow, -ing 2
Explanation
If something is glowing, it's either lit up like a light or it's full of praise and enthusiasm. So, you could receive a glowing candle or a glowing report card. You choose. When a report or account is glowing, it's unreservedly positive, like a book critic's glowing review of a new mystery novel or your grandmother's glowing praise for the good job you did mowing her lawn. Glowing comes from glow, which can mean "a flush of radiant feeling," and which comes from the Old English glowan, "to glow or shine as if red-hot."
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.
On the final night of this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, performing before hundreds of revelers at the center of a glowing pyramid, DJ Sara Landry reached a Zen state.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026
On the day of President Trump’s State of the Union address, Foster McCoy sat himself in front of two glowing screens to “monitor the situation.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026
The astronauts will then have the chance to study the solar corona, the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere, which will become visible as a sort of glowing halo.
From Barron's • Apr. 5, 2026
These events may appear as faint glowing effects, somewhat similar to auroras, and they set off a chain of electrochemical reactions.
From Science Daily • Apr. 5, 2026
She was breathless and glowing from the cold, and happy too, as happy as I had seen her in a long time.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
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.
