glass ceiling
Syllables: glass ceil·ingUK/ɡlɑːs ˈsiːlɪŋ//ɡlæs ˈsilɪŋ/
glass ceiling noun: an unrecognized or unwritten barrier to further progression or promotion, in employment and elsewhere, for a member of a specific demographic group (originally women).
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Noun
glass ceiling (plural glass ceilings)
- An unrecognized or unwritten barrier to further progression or promotion, in employment and elsewhere, for a member of a specific demographic group (originally women).
- Women have reached a certain point—I call it the glass ceiling. They're in the top of middle management and they're stopping and getting stuck. There isn't enough room for all those women at the top. Some are going into business for themselves. Others are going out and raising families.1984 March 15, Nora Frenkiel, quoting Gay Bryant, “The Up-and-Comers; Bryant Takes Aim at the Settlers-in”, in Adweek: Magazine World 1984 Supplement, New York, N.Y.: A/S/M Communications, →OCLC...
- A recent Wall Street Journal report describes the invisible barrier at the top as "the glass ceiling" and speculates that it is caused by corporate tradition and prejudice—the same factors that had to be dealt with years ago in order for women to make it beyond the steno pool. […] In the spate of...1986 June 18, Rusty Brown, “The glass ceiling”, in Dan Bolton, editor, Lompoc Record, volume 112, number 60, Lompoc, Calif.: Donrey Media Group, →OCLC, page A4, column 2
- A barrier to progression that is not obvious.
- After several spirited assaults, the FT SE's 3200 glass ceiling finally gave way yesterday, allowing the index to close sharply higher after a day of drifting.1994 August 25, Charles Pretzlik, “The Market: Ceiling gives way thanks to Uncle Sam”, in The Daily Telegraph, number 43,288, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 25, column 1
glass ceiling meaning in Bengali, Arabic, Malay and Indonesian
glass ceiling in Bengali
- unrecognized or unwritten barrier to further progression or promotion for a member of a specific demographic group; barrier to progression that is not obvious
- গ্লাস সিলিং glaś śiliṅ
glass ceiling in Arabic
- unrecognized or unwritten barrier to further progression or promotion for a member of a specific demographic group; barrier to progression that is not obvious
- السقف الزجاجي
glass ceiling in Malay
- unrecognized or unwritten barrier to further progression or promotion for a member of a specific demographic group; barrier to progression that is not obvious
- siling kaca
glass ceiling in Indonesian
- unrecognized or unwritten barrier to further progression or promotion for a member of a specific demographic group; barrier to progression that is not obvious
- langit-langit kaca
More languagesFewer languages
- glass ceiling in Persian
- سقف شیشهای
Examples of glass ceiling in a sentence
- There are fears of hitting a "glass ceiling" beyond which known or suspected gay men and lesbians cannot rise.1991 December 15, Kathyrin E. Diaz, “Telling Fortune: A Media Watch Report”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 22, Boston, Mass....
- The glass ceiling is still holding back 6,000 women from the top 33,000 jobs in Britain, according to new research from the Equal Opportunities Commission.2007 January 5, Polly Curtis, “Six thousand women missing from boardrooms, politics and courts”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian...
- They promised her [Ellen Pao] a meritocracy and gave her a glass ceiling instead: "It just wasn't fair."2017 September 19, Jennifer Szalai, “The Education of Ellen Pao [review of Pao’s book Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change...
- "Has the glass ceiling shattered?" said Bakari Sellers, a political ally of [Kamala] Harris.2021 November 19, Chris Megerian, quoting Bakari Sellers, “Kamala Harris makes history, again, as first woman with presidential power – for...
Forms of glass ceiling
| plural | glass ceilings |
|---|
Origin of glass ceiling
From glass + ceiling, a metaphor using ceiling to suggest a barrier to upward mobility, and glass to allude to the often unacknowledged or “invisible” nature of this limitation. The term was coined by the American diversity advocate, management consultant, and writer Marilyn Loden (1946–2022), who referred to the “invisible glass ceiling” during a panel discussion about women’s aspirations in 1978.
Words formed from glass ceiling
Words that rhyme with glass ceiling
- ceiling
- feeling
- healing
- concealing
- dealing
- Eling
- peeling
- revealing
- shieling
- stealing
- wheeling
- appealing
8 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about glass ceiling
- What does glass ceiling mean?
- Glass ceiling means an unrecognized or unwritten barrier to further progression or promotion, in employment and elsewhere, for a member of a specific demographic group (originally women).
- What is glass ceiling in Bengali?
- Glass ceiling in Bengali is গ্লাস সিলিং (glaś śiliṅ). See Glass ceiling meaning in Bengali.
- How do you use glass ceiling in a sentence?
- There are fears of hitting a "glass ceiling" beyond which known or suspected gay men and lesbians cannot rise.
- What part of speech is glass ceiling?
- Glass ceiling is a noun.
- How do you pronounce glass ceiling?
- Glass ceiling is pronounced /ɡlɑːs ˈsiːlɪŋ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of glass ceiling?
- The plural of glass ceiling is glass ceilings.
Words near glass ceiling in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: glass ceiling (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-glass ceiling.wav, En-au-glass ceiling.ogg.
Cite this entry: “glass ceiling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/glass_ceiling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.