Also called nimbus. a geometric shape, usually in the form of a disk, circle, ring, or rayed structure, traditionally representing a radiant light around or above the head of a divine or sacred personage, an ancient or medieval monarch, etc.
an atmosphere or quality of glory, majesty, sanctity, or the like.
The "profession" of a medieval lord cast a halo around him and made him a ruler of men.
Meteorology. any of a variety of bright circles or arcs centered on the sun or moon, caused by the refraction or reflection of light by ice crystals suspended in the earth's atmosphere and exhibiting prismatic coloration ranging from red inside to blue outside (distinguished from corona).
Astronomy. a spherical cloud of gas clusters and stars that form part of a spiral galaxy.
any of various other things resembling a halo, especially a lighter or differently colored area surrounding an object.
I think the scab was from some kind of bite, and now there's a halo around it with bruising.
Also called Cellini's halo. Heiligenschein.
an undesirable bright or dark ring surrounding an image on the fluorescent screen of a television tube, due to some fault either in transmission or reception.
a disc or ring of light around the head of an angel, saint, etc, as in painting or sculpture
the aura surrounding an idealized, famous, or admired person, thing, or event
a circle of light around the sun or moon, caused by the refraction of light by particles of ice
astronomy a spherical cloud of stars surrounding the Galaxy and other spiral galaxies
indicating salt or the sea
halophyte
relating to or containing a halogen
halothane
First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin, accusative of halōs “circle around the sun or moon,” from Greek hálōs “threshing floor; grain on a threshing floor; shield; halo”
< Greek, combining form of háls salt
A glowing light that circles something, like the moon or a person's head is a halo. Painters of religious art often put a halo around the heads of angels and saints. A halo is a symbol of holiness, represented by a circle or arc of light around the head of a saint or holy person. Any circle of light can be described as a halo, even in a non-religious context; sometimes you'll see a glowing halo of light around the moon, for example. The word halo also means "glory or majesty," a symbolic halo rather than a physical one. The Greek halos means "ring of light around the sun or moon."
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!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Right now, there’s a halo of rarity around Raising Cane’s due to its newness, which likely adds to the psychosis.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
Her head, with its multipoint halo, appears not above the peak but within it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
The featured object is NGC 6426, a globular cluster located in the outer halo of the Milky Way.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
The Halos have gone to halo, the Big A is now the Big L and, somewhere, a rally monkey weeps.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026
I could not see Father’s face, only the erect carriage of his shoulders and the halo of white hair above them.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Encircling the footprint of each roundhouse were "middens," haloes of rubbish dumped from the stilt village above, included broken pots, butchered animal bone, and "coprolites" or fossilised faeces.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 20, 2024
The glory that now haloes the vineyard valleys of Sonoma and Santa Ynez, Alexander and Edna, the Russian River, and other dales and vales, once belonged to Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2022
Accretion disks are fast-spinning haloes of matter that orbit around black holes at high speeds.
From Salon ● Nov. 18, 2021
Our advice is to not be impressed by these general haloes but instead to focus on specific credentials.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 8, 2020
Between these lampposts my shadow on the winter snow would stretch ahead of me, double, shrink again and disappear, the lamps casting their haloes around them like the moon in fog.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
We should be hesitant to place halos around the heads of people we admire, just as we shouldn’t totally condemn those with whom we disagree.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Although the procedure is widely used and generally considered safe, it can sometimes lead to complications including dry eyes, glare, halos, and weakened corneal structure.
From Science Daily ● May 28, 2026
Many conventional beams produce "sidelobes" -- blurred halos that reduce image clarity.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 28, 2026
“I was there, and I was a pop star — my thing was wearing ornate halos all the time,” you might say.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026
Then the door would clang shut, and he would sit back down to work, seeing nothing — spinning halos, that was, spots of light, shapes — until his eyes readjusted.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
I’m not ashamed to admit that there have been times when those 32-ounce tubs just stare at me day after day, haloed by the refrigerator light, moving further from consumable and closer to petri dish.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2026
“The way her hijab haloed Nour’s head” gives her a saintly presence, “or so Jimmy thought.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
In the dimness of a small theater inside Venice’s former City Hall, poet Sesshu Foster was in the spotlight, haloed against a velvet stage as he read aloud to an audience of 50.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2022
Rob Flaherty, the White House’s director of digital strategy, also tweeted an image of Biden smiling with red eyes, his hair haloed against a dark background.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 8, 2022
They are just blurry black-and-white photos with little points of haloed brightness.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
She became slimmer, blonder, sleeker, her cheekbones carved by shadow, a golden nimbus haloing her hair.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 19, 2015
One of his plates showed the wounded gunman seated on the pavement, the girl clasping his head to her shoulder, the alert hands of policemen and detectives haloing the couple's heads.
From Time Magazine Archive
Her hair is a frizzy nest haloing her plump white face.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
They weren’t solid gray, but filaments of a hundred different grays and blues and pearls, and they looked like reflections of light wavering on water, with the softest sunburst of amber haloing his pupils.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Then I thought, how could this Doctor Gordon help me anyway, with a beautiful wife and beautiful children and a beautiful dog haloing him like the angels on a Christmas card?
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
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.
