glare
1 Americannoun
verb (used without object)
-
glares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
glared,
past participle, past
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glaring
present participle
-
to shine with or reflect a very harsh, bright, dazzling light.
-
to stare with a fiercely or angrily piercing look.
-
Archaic. to appear conspicuous; stand out obtrusively.
verb (used with object)
-
glares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
glared,
past participle, past
-
glaring
present participle
noun
verb
-
(intr) to stare angrily; glower
-
(tr) to express by glowering
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(intr) (of light, colour, etc) to be very bright and intense
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(intr) to be dazzlingly ornamented or garish
noun
-
an angry stare
-
a dazzling light or brilliance
-
garish ornamentation or appearance; gaudiness
adjective
Synonym Usage
See shine 1. Glare, glower, gloat all have connotations of emotion that accompany an intense gaze. To glare is to look piercingly or angrily: A tiger glares at its prey. To glower is to look fiercely and threateningly, as from wrath; it suggests a scowl along with a glare: to glower at a mischievous child. To gloat meant originally to look with exultation, avaricious or malignant, on something or someone: a tyrant gloating over the helplessness of his victim. Today, however, it may simply imply inner exultation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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glaresimple
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glaressimple
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have glaredperfect
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has glaredperfect
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am glaringprogressive
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are glaringprogressive
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is glaringprogressive
-
have been glaringperfect progressive
-
has been glaringperfect progressive
Past
-
glaredsimple
-
had glaredperfect
-
was glaringprogressive
-
were glaringprogressive
-
had been glaringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glare1
First recorded in 1250–1300; (for the verb) Middle English glaren; cognate with Middle Dutch, Middle Low German glaren; akin to glass (compare Old English glæren “glassy”); noun derivative of the verb
Origin of glare2
First recorded in 1560–70; special use of glare 1
Explanation
When you drive, you pull down your visors to block the glare, or the blinding light from the sun. The "rocket's red glare" from the national anthem is the bright light you'd see as a rocket shoots through the sky. Imagine the twinge of pain you get when you suddenly see the glare of a strong flash of bright light. Now imagine this light coming from an angry person's eyes towards you. This angry look is called a glare. If someone glares at you, be careful you don't get attacked! Glare can also mean the spotlight of public attention.
Vocabulary lists containing glare
The Diary of Anne Frank
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Words from the 4th of July Songbook
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Nothing But the Truth
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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:
He’s the most talentless man ever caught in the bright glare of the light he demanded from the world.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
Note the simple fabric-and-wire belly covering on C-3PO and the two ordinary lightbulbs that give the Jawas their hot glare.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
By reducing the overwhelming glare of a host star, astronomers can directly image nearby planets and disks that would otherwise be extremely difficult to see.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
Friends said Harry seemed to enjoy the solitude and privacy, especially as the son of a woman who had lived in the unrelenting glare of the paparazzi.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
The music crashed to a stop and he turned a befuddled glare toward the audience.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Behind it all is a Pittsburgh native, you-know-who, head coach Curt Cignetti, the sideline stern face who still glares at his charges like it’s spring practice and someone just dropped two punts a row.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 10, 2026
A massive "Home Furnishings" banner glares over the line of grubby once-white caravans, many with padlocked doors and windows taped shut.
From BBC ● May 2, 2025
Between the pomp surrounding donning one’s holy livery, pointed glares and swishing red silks and velvets, these cassocked clergymen make bored teenagers seem kind.
From Salon ● Nov. 22, 2024
And the glares he encounters from officers on their way to and from work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2023
He used to drive Mother and us to Sunday school, and then sit outside in the car, reading The New York Times and ignoring the shocked glares of passing churchgoers.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
I petted my bird by tapping my screen while my real life cat glared at me from a corner.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026
This meant she regularly passed the accused and their family, who "glared" at jurors and had to be removed by police after an "outburst", leaving Gerrard feeling especially vulnerable.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
Back on Tasman Drive, tourists excitedly posed for pictures next to a speed bump sign as a grumbling resident glared at them.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
As the SDF convoy rolled by, men and boys glared from storefronts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
Tante Jans seized the pot and glared into it with righteous zeal.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
The square footage of San Francisco’s largest mall, which closed earlier this year and now stands as a glaring hole in the city’s AI-fueled renaissance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
It has been a glaring problem for more than a year.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Even before the summer rush, nerves were on edge; a January 4 breakdown in the communication system linking air traffic controllers and aircraft had laid bare a glaring weakness.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
They’re peppy and fruity … and a glaring recession indicator.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
I don’t know if it was because she’s in charge of the poultry show, or because Ms. O’Malley was glaring at her.
From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones
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.
