Gloat
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 An act or instance of gloating.
"They spun wildly on their heels, jodelling after the accepted manner of a 'gloat,' which is not unremotely allied to the primitive man's song of triumph […]"
- 2 malicious satisfaction wordnet
- 1 To exhibit a conspicuous (sometimes malevolent) pleasure or sense of self-satisfaction, often at an adversary's misfortune.
"You did well to win the game, but there's no need to gloat about it."
- 2 dwell on with satisfaction wordnet
- 3 To triumph, crow, relish, glory, revel.
- 4 gaze at or think about something with great self-satisfaction, gratification, or joy wordnet
Example
More examples"I’m trying not to gloat too much."
Etymology
From Middle English *gloten, glouten, from Old Norse glotta (“to grin, smile scornfully”) or Old English *glotian, both from Proto-Germanic *glutōną (“to stare”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- (“to shine”), related to dialectal Swedish glotta, glutta (“to peep”), Middle High German glutzen, glotzen (“to stare”), Modern German glotzen (“to gawk, goggle”).
Related phrases
More for "gloat"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.