golden

[ gohl-duhn ]

/ ˈgoʊl dən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR golden ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

bright, metallic, or lustrous like gold; of the color of gold; yellow: golden hair.

made or consisting of gold: golden earrings.

exceptionally valuable, advantageous, or fine: a golden opportunity.

having glowing vitality; radiant: golden youth.

full of happiness, prosperity, or vigor: golden hours; a golden era of exploration.

highly talented and favored; destined for success: television's golden boy.

richly soft and smooth: a golden voice.

indicating the fiftieth event of a series: a golden wedding anniversary.

Nearby words

Origin of golden

Middle English word dating back to 1225–75; see origin at gold, -en²

SYNONYMS FOR golden

5. splendid, glorious, joyous.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR golden ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsgold·en·ly, adverbgold·en·ness, nounun·gold·en, adjective

Can be confusedgilded golden

Golden

[ gohl-duh n ]

/ ˈgoʊl dən /

noun

a city in central Colorado.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for golden

But on Thursday Boxer triggered a Golden State political earthquake, announcing that she would not seek a fifth term in 2016.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The former Virginia governor was once the golden boy of the GOP.
2014 Was a Delectably Good Year for Sleaze|Patricia Murphy|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And the series was implausibly shut out by both the Golden Globe and SAG Awards.
‘The Comeback’ Finale: Give Lisa Kudrow All of the Awards|Kevin Fallon|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Congratulations on your Golden Globe nomination for Best Director.
Ava DuVernay on ‘Selma,’ the Racist Sony Emails, and Making Golden Globes History|Marlow Stern|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST

“The golden age of Parisian smiles nurtured, and was nurtured by, the rise of dentistry as a vocation,” writes Jones.
The French Court’s Royal Ban on Smiles|William O’Connor|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then he called the chief treasurer, who came forward with a golden tray in his hand.
Twilight Land|Howard Pyle
He is dead, and I have taken his soul in my hands; but I know why you open the lid of that golden box.
Responsibilities|William Butler Yeats
They were met with much ceremony at the gate and conducted to the Golden Hall.
A German Pompadour|Marie Hay
Nowadays some chafing dish show-offs try to gild the Golden Buck with dashes of ginger and spice.
The Complete Book of Cheese|Robert Carlton Brown
The world, having tried everything else, is becoming convinced that no Golden Rule alone will be the savior.
Modern Religious Cults and Movements|Gaius Glenn Atkins

British Dictionary definitions for golden

golden

/ (ˈɡəʊldən) /

adjective

of the yellowish or brownish-yellow metallic colour of goldgolden hair

made from or largely consisting of golda golden statue

happy or prosperousgolden days

(sometimes capital) (of anniversaries) the 50th in a seriesGolden Jubilee; golden wedding

informal very successful or destined for successthe golden girl of tennis

extremely valuable or advantageousa golden opportunity

Derived Formsgoldenly, adverbgoldenness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for golden

golden

adj.

c.1300, "made of gold," from gold + -en (2); replacing Middle English gilden, from Old English gyldan. Gold is one of the few Modern English nouns that form adjectives meaning "made of ______" by adding -en (e.g. wooden, leaden, waxen, olden); Old English also had silfren "made of silver," stænen "made of stone."

As a color from late 14c. Figurative sense of "excellent, precious, best" is from late 14c. Golden mean "avoidance of excess" translates Latin aurea mediocritas (Horace). Golden age, period of past perfection, is from 1550s, from a concept found in Greek and Latin writers; in sense of "old age" it is from 1961. The moralistic golden rule earlier was the golden law, so called from 1670s.