glory

UK/ˈɡlɔːɹi/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈɡloːɹɪj/

glory noun: great beauty and splendor.

Image: Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

glory (countable and uncountable, plural glories)

Great beauty and splendor.
- 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.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
- One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891
Honour, admiration, or distinction, accorded by common consent to a person or thing; high reputation; renown.
- 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.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 197
That quality in a person or thing which secures general praise or honour.
- Deeme it no gloire to swell in tyrannie.c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New...
- As jewels lose their glory if neglected,
  So princes their renowns if not respected.c. 1607–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, [George Wilkins?], The Late, and Much Admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: […] [William White and Thomas Creede] for Henry...
Worship or praise.
- Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 2:14
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.

Synonyms:

anticorona
Victory; success.
- 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.2012 May 13, Alistair Magowan, “Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport
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.
- 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; […]1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 2
- Seen across the dim candle with his moistened eyes, she looked as if she had a glory shining round her head.1854, Charles Dickens, chapter 13, in Hard Times. For These Times, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC
Synonyms:

halo
The manifestation of the presence of God as perceived by humans in Abrahamic religions.
(obsolete) Pride; boastfulness; arrogance.
- […] 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.c. 1624, “A Hymne to Venus”, in George Chapman, transl., The Crowne of all Homers Workes Batrachomyomachia or the Battaile of Frogs and Mise, His Hymn’s and Epigrams, London: John Bill, page 106
Something glorious.
- 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.1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle

Verb

glory (third-person singular simple present glories, present participle glorying, simple past and past participle gloried)

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.1753, James Hervey, A Visitation Sermon: Preached at Northampton, May 10, 1753
- He says he glories in what happened, and that good may be done indirectly; but I wish he would not so wear himself out now he is getting old, and would leave such pigs to their wallowing.1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles
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.1881, Revised Version, 2 Corinthians 7:14
(archaic, poetic) To shine radiantly.
- Down in a casement sat,
  A low sea-sunset glorying round her hair1859–85, Alfred Tennyson, Idylls of the King, "The Last Tournament"

Proper noun capitalized: Glory

Glory

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.”2009, Marilynne Robinson, Home: Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction, Hachette UK, →ISBN

glory meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

glory in Hindi

great beauty or splendour: यश yaś, शान śān, वैभव vaibhav, भव्य bhavya, महिमा mahimā
honour, admiration, or distinction: प्रतिष्ठा pratiṣṭhā, इज़्ज़त izzat, यश yaś, कीर्ति kīrti
worship or praise: स्तुति stuti, प्रशस्ति praśasti

glory in Tamil

புகழ்

glory in Marathi

glory: गौरव gaurav, श्री śrī
glory, fame: प्रसिद्धी prasiddhī

glory in Urdu

great beauty or splendour: شان śān, جَلال jalāl
honour, admiration, or distinction: شُہْرَہ śuhra, عِزَّت 'izzat, شَرَف śaraf

More languagesFewer languages

glory in Bengali: ভূষণ bhuśon, তেজ tej, অলঙ্কার oloṅkar
glory in Telugu: వైభవం, మహిమ
glory in Malayalam: മാഹാത്മ്യം, വലിമ
glory in Kannada: ಚೆಲುವು celuvu
glory in Punjabi: ਤੇਜ਼ tez, ਸ਼ਾਨ śān, شان śān
glory in Gujarati: શ્રી śrī
glory in Odia: ଐଶ୍ୱର୍ଯ୍ୟ aiśwarjya, ପ୍ରତିଷ୍ଠା pratiṣṭhā, ଭଗ bhaga, ବିଭୂତି bibhuti
glory in Sanskrit: द्युम्न dyumna, यश yaśa, श्रवस् śravas, यशस् yaśas
glory in Nepali: महिमा
glory in Pashto: مجد majd
glory in Tagalog: luwalhati
glory in Arabic: مَجْد majd, جَلَال jalāl, شَرَف šaraf
glory in Malay: kegemilangan
glory in Thai: ศิริ sì-rì, เกียรติ gìiat, กิตติ gìt-dtì, สง่าราศี
glory in Vietnamese: vinh quang
glory in Myanmar: မျှို့ hmyui., ကျက်သရေ kyaksa.re

Examples of glory in a sentence

It is a question whether the glory of mankind can be added to or taken away from.1924, Grant Overton, The Thousand and First Night, George H. Doran Company, page 279:
After all, politicians have been promising to return us to the glory, wealth, and order of the twentieth century ever since I can remember.1993, Octavia Butler, chapter 3, in The Parable of the Sower:

All 40 example sentences with glory

Synonyms of glory

All synonyms of glory

Forms of glory

Noun
plural	glories
Verb
third-person singular present	glories
present participle	glorying
past participle	gloried
past	gloried

Plural of glory: glories

Origin of glory

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.

From glory as a variant of the more common Gloria.

Phrases with glory

13 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with glory

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about glory

What does glory mean?: Glory means great beauty and splendor.
What is glory in Hindi?: Glory in Hindi is यश (yaś), शान (śān), वैभव (vaibhav). See Glory meaning in Hindi.
How do you use glory in a sentence?: It is a question whether the glory of mankind can be added to or taken away from.
What part of speech is glory?: Glory can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce glory?: Glory is pronounced /ˈɡlɔːɹi/ (UK).
What is the plural of glory?: The plural of glory is glories.

Words near glory in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-glory.ogg.

Cite this entry: “glory.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/glory. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.