glorify
Americanverb (used with object)
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glorifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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glorified,
past participle, past
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glorifying
present participle
verb
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to make glorious
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to make more splendid; adorn
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to worship, exalt, or adore
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to extol
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to cause to seem more splendid or imposing than reality
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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glorifiernoun
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deglorifyverb (used with object)
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reglorifyverb (used with object)
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glorifiableadjective
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self-glorifiedadjective
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self-glorifyingadjective
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unglorifiedadjective
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unglorifyingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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glorifysimple
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glorifiessimple
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have glorifiedperfect
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has glorifiedperfect
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am glorifyingprogressive
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are glorifyingprogressive
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is glorifyingprogressive
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have been glorifyingperfect progressive
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has been glorifyingperfect progressive
Past
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glorifiedsimple
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had glorifiedperfect
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was glorifyingprogressive
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were glorifyingprogressive
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had been glorifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glorify
1300–50; Middle English < Old French glorifier < Late Latin glōrificāre. See glory, -fy
Explanation
To glorify is to praise or honor something or someone to an extreme degree. If you like someone, you might compliment or praise them, but glorifying takes that a step further. When something is glorified, it is praised to the highest degree possible. It seems right that great people like Martin Luther King and Gandhi are glorified. It can seem odd when athletes are glorified just for playing a game. Often this word is used in a negative sense. For example, a movie with lots of explosions could be said "to glorify violence."
Vocabulary lists containing glorify
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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:
“The restraints weren’t on. I didn’t want to glorify it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Despite the grandeur of the Endeavour, the Science Center didn’t want to glorify it either.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Nawrocki said Kyiv's "decision to glorify the UPA is not only outrageous" but also "deeply disappointing", undermining "reconciliation" between the two nations.
From Barron's ● Jun. 20, 2026
Naturally, such arches tend to glorify the emperor.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2025
His attack was on those who wrote history to ratify and glorify the present, particularly present political arrangements.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Fittingly, “Becoming George” neither accuses nor glorifies its subject.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Even remembering how wide a beach used to be, or how the cliffs once withstood the tide, glorifies the notion that resilience is measured by our ability to remain unchanged.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025
“He won’t play in a drama that glamorizes evil or glorifies violence. ‘I’m no nut on that,’ he says, ‘my pictures don’t have to carry a message — but they do have to say something.’
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
"However," it added, "this does not mean at all that the image glorifies these figures or attributes any dignity to them."
From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2024
These memories would make my mental Cleveland picture somewhat sad, were it not for another recollection which dominates the picture and glorifies the city.
From Abroad at Home American Ramblings, Observations, and Adventures of Julian Street by Julian Street
Hiding away in a glorified ice chest would also have been a blow to the 80-year-old’s dignity.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
In addition, Paoletta has glorified Thomas as a legal commentator for years, including in a book he edited and in a documentary that features 25 hours of interviews with Thomas about his life.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
The handler EL, who directed Lavrynovych, offered Russian citizenship in return for other attacks and glorified President Vladimir Putin, messages the BBC has uncovered show.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
"It's almost like he is trying to reach for this glorified manhood that he cannot embody anymore," said Sabrina Karim, a political science professor at Cornell University.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
When we began to move, it wasn’t really dancing—just some glorified swaying.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
“Duchamp Takes New York” readily conforms to the predictable narrative about the artist, glorifying his influence and spirit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Sansal may be free, but prominent French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes remains in an Algerian prison, sentenced to seven years for "glorifying terrorism" for having sought to interview an outlawed group.
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
It’s not surprising that a movie glorifying Formula One wouldn’t get into the well-documented controversies that have plagued the sport.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2025
Now Roop Kanwar’s story has returned to headlines in India after a court acquitted eight men accused of glorifying her death, in the last of the remaining cases in the grisly saga.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2024
Union and community leaders, four white and three black, gave emotional speeches glorifying the strength of a united laboring class.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
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.
