What does "glory" mean?
Great beauty and splendor.
Glory
/ˈɡlɔː.ɹi/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Great beauty and splendor.
- Grammar: glory is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: fame, honor, praise, worship.
- Useful contrasts: blasphemy, condemn, criticize.
- Usage evidence: Stop clinging to your glory days, or you'll be left behind.
How to use "glory"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "glory" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "glory" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "glory" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "glory" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "glory" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "fame" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "glory", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Great beauty and splendor. countable, uncountable
"He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts."
- 2 brilliant radiant beauty wordnet
- 3 Honour, admiration, or distinction, accorded by common consent to a person or thing; high reputation; renown. countable, uncountable
"In this faire wize they traueild long yfere, Through many hard assayes, which did betide; Of which he honour still away did beare, And spred his glorie through all countries wide."
- 4 an indication of radiant light drawn around the head of a saint wordnet
- 5 That quality in a person or thing which secures general praise or honour. countable, uncountable
"Deeme it no gloire to swell in tyrannie."
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 a state of high honor wordnet
- 7 Worship or praise. countable, uncountable
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
- 8 An optical phenomenon, consisting of concentric rings and somewhat similar to a rainbow, caused by sunlight or moonlight interacting with the water droplets that compose mist or clouds, centered on the antisolar or antilunar point. countable, uncountable
- 9 Victory; success. countable, uncountable
"But, with United fans in celebratory mood as it appeared their team might snatch glory, they faced an anxious wait as City equalised in stoppage time."
- 10 An emanation of light supposed to shine from beings that are specially holy. It is represented in art by rays of gold, or the like, proceeding from the head or body, or by a disk, or a mere line. countable, uncountable
"How does the Luſtre of our Father’s Actions, Through the dark Cloud of Ills that cover him, Break out, and burn with more triumphant Brightneſs! His Suff’rings ſhine, and ſpread a Glory round him; […]"
- 11 The manifestation of the presence of God as perceived by humans in Abrahamic religions. countable, uncountable
- 12 Pride; boastfulness; arrogance. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"[…] But if thou declare The Secrets, truth; and art so mad to dare (In glory of thy fortunes) to approue, That rich-crownd Venus, mixt with thee in loue; Ioue (fir’d with my aspersion, so dispred) Will, with a wreakefull lightning, dart thee dead."
- 13 Something glorious. countable, uncountable
"It was a woman’s clothing, beyond a doubt, […] The two men gazed at the heap of feminine glories, — it might have been the most wonderful sight they ever had seen."
Verb
- 1 To exult with joy; to rejoice.
"In what the Apostle did glory?—He gloried in a Cross. ... [T]o the Ear of a Galatian, it conveyed much the same Meaning, as if the Apostle had gloried in a Halter; gloried in the Gallows; gloried in a Gibbet."
- 2 rejoice proudly wordnet
- 3 To boast; to be proud.
"For if in anything I have gloried to him on your behalf, I was not put to shame; but as we spake all things to you in truth, so our glorying also, which I made before Titus, was found to be truth."
- 4 To shine radiantly. archaic, poetic
"Down in a casement sat, A low sea-sunset glorying round her hair"
Proper Noun
- 1 A female given name from English.
"Glory said, “I think we should change the subject.” “Your mother wanted to call her Gloria, the usual spelling, but I couldn't see that, when all the other names are in English.”"
Example
"Stop clinging to your glory days, or you'll be left behind."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "glory"?
Common synonyms include: fame, honor, praise, worship, a better place, acclaim.
How do you use "glory" in a sentence?
Stop clinging to your glory days, or you'll be left behind.
How do you pronounce "glory"?
Pronounced /ˈɡlɔː.ɹi/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English glory, glorie, from Old French glorie (“glory”), from Latin glōria (“glory, fame, renown, praise, ambition, boasting”). Doublet of gloria. Displaced native Old English wuldor.
Etymology 2
From glory as a variant of the more common Gloria.