gleam

[gleem]

noun

1. a flash or beam of light.

   the gleam of a lantern in the dark.

2. a dim or subdued light.

3. a brief or slight manifestation or occurrence; trace.

   a gleam of hope.

verb (used without object)

1. to send forth a gleam or gleams.

   Synonyms: beam, sparkle, glitter, glint, flash, glimmer, shine, scintilla, suggestion, hint

2. to appear suddenly and clearly like a flash of light.

gleam

/ ɡliːm /

noun

1. a small beam or glow of light, esp reflected light

2. a brief or dim indication

   a gleam of hope

verb

1. to send forth or reflect a beam of light

2. to appear, esp briefly

   intelligence gleamed in his eyes

Other Word Forms

• gleaming adjective
• gleamingly adverb
• gleamy adjective
• gleamless adjective
• outgleam verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of gleam¹

First recorded before 1000; (noun) Middle English glem(e), Old English glǣm; cognate with Old High German gleimo “glowworm”; akin to Old Saxon glīmo “brightness”; (verb) Middle English, derivative of the noun. See glimmer, glimpse

Word History and Origins

Origin of gleam¹

Old English glǣm; related to Old Norse gljā to flicker, Old High German gleimo glow-worm, glīmo brightness, Old Irish glē bright

Synonym Study

Gleam, glimmer, beam, ray are terms for a stream of light. Gleam denotes a not very brilliant, intermittent or nondirectional stream of light. Glimmer indicates a nondirectional light that is feeble and unsteady: a faint glimmer of moonlight. Beam usually means a directional, and therefore smaller, stream: the beam from a searchlight. Ray usually implies a still smaller amount of light than a beam, a single line of light: a ray through a pinprick in a window shade.

Example Sentences

Inside the workshop, gleaming rows of polished pianos are packed in closely together.

From BBC

He vowed to “restore the city back to the gleaming capital that everybody wants it to be.”

From Los Angeles Times

Their old-money neighbors find the enormous, gleaming structure to be garish.

From Salon

Sixteen miles south of Epping, residents in Canary Wharf, east London, live in gleaming glass towers and traditional East End houses alongside another asylum hotel.

From BBC

In Gurugram, an upscale suburb just outside Delhi, gleaming SUVs, futuristic skyscrapers and neat apartments stand in stark contrast to nearby mosquito swarms, trash heaps and tarpaulin shanties.

From BBC

Related Words

• glimmer 
• glint 
• glisten 
• glitter 
• glow 
• radiate 
• shimmer 
• shine 
• twinkle 

When To Use

What does gleam mean?

A gleam is a flash or flicker of light, as in As Val scrolled through their phone in the dark, the screen projected a gleam of light on their face.

A gleam is also a dim light, such as you might get from a flashlight with a dying battery.

To gleam means to send out a gleam, as in The candle gleamed in the darkness.

To gleam also means to appear quickly and clearly, as a flash of light would.

Example: I love the way this dress gleams in the sun.