How to use glimpse in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun

Glimpse means to see or view (someone, or something tangible) briefly and incompletely. Example: “I have only begun to glimpse the magnitude of the problem.”

Examples of glimpse by meaning

verbTo see or view (someone, or something tangible) briefly and incompletely.

Those wild hills are surely the outpost of a frightful cosmic race—as I doubt all the less since reading that a new ninth planet has been glimpsed beyond Neptune, just as those influences had said it would be glimpsed.1931 August, H[oward] P[hillips] Lovecraft, “The Whisperer in Darkness. Chapter 8.”, in Farnsworth Wright, editor, Weird Tales: A Magazine...
'Illumined' also carries its own gothic charge, and what she glimpses is not therefore a passenger ship but a ship of death, more foreboding than inviting.2008, David Pierce, “Saying Goodbye in ‘Eveline’: Emigration · The Language of ‘Eveline’”, in Reading Joyce, Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New...

verbTo perceive (something intangible) briefly and incompletely.

I have only begun to glimpse the magnitude of the problem.
To glimpse the actual woman behind these texts in any kind of full and adequate way is impossible.2000 June 17, Elizabeth A. Johnson, “Mary of Nazareth: Friend of God and Prophet”, in America, volume 182, number 21

nounChiefly followed by of: a brief and incomplete look.

I only got a glimpse of the car, so I can tell you the colour but not the registration number.

More sentences with glimpse

The wind lifted up her skirt and I caught a glimpse of her downstairs.From the entry downstairs
He snatched a glimpse of her while her mother had her back turned.From the entry snatch
One can glimpse the sky through the oculus of the Pantheon in Rome.From the entry oculus
She spied on him in the shower and glimpsed his manhood.From the entry manhood
In the dying moments of daylight I glimpsed a sail on the horizon.From the entry dying
This bird species has tan underparts. Try to catch a glimpse when the bird takes off.From the entry underpart
I was flicking through the newspaper when I glimpsed a funny headline.From the entry flick through
I glimpsed a vile squid-like creature in the depths.From the entry vile
She glimpsed at the people whom she had left behind, and smirked in the most disdainful manner towards them.From the entry disdainful
You can glimpse him in a video from the event wearing a Santa hat and toasting Mr.2024 January 12, Emily Dreyfuss, “Our Kids Are Living in a Different Digital World”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York…. From the entry Zynfluencer
The most powerful character in the story, Diana, never truly appears, other than in radiant glimpses.2023 January 17, Tina Brown, “Spare by Prince Harry review – magical thinking in Montecito”, in The Guardian. From the entry unassuageable
If you ever catch a glimpse of this rare pepe, you will meme dank for eternity.2016 March 28, Hannah Hunt, “Teen of the Week”, in The Tilghman Bell, volume 92, number 8, Pacudah, Ky.: Paducah Tilghman High School…. From the entry rare pepe
These films give a glimpse of women on the way to mistressing their own destiny.2013, Andrea Khalil, North African Cinema in a Global Context: Through the Lens of Diaspora. From the entry mistress
The lovable dope admitted stealing glimpses of her as she rounded the table shooting.2013, Billy-John, Cougar Shame. From the entry cherriest
Where trees allowed glimpses, the hills above were purple-black, the snowcaps in the distance moltenly aglow.2011, Poul Anderson, Flandry's Legacy. From the entry moltenly
I only got a glimpse of him, but alarm bells went off.2010, John M Findley, Just Lucky. From the entry alarm bell
Have you ever gotten a glimpse of something out of the corner of your eye?2008 April 7, “Peripheral Vision”, in Creepypasta, archived from the original on 31 May 2008. From the entry peripheral vision
Far from being simple goofs, an eggcorn provides a glimpse into everyday thought processes.2006 March 1, Mark Peters, “Word watch: The eggcorn: A funny little poem and symptom of human intelligence and creativity”, in Psychology…. From the entry eggcorn
These various strands are frequently interwoven in Banville's many glimpses, glancing hints, and full scenes of troilism.2006, Irish University Review. From the entry troilism
An English monarchical hero is also glimpsed in the Play's handling of Caeser.2004, Hero Chalmers, Royalist Women Writers, 1650-1689, Oxford University Press, page 89. From the entry monarchical hero
Glimpses of Dad’s nakedness under bathrobe or up boxer-short leg became illicit, both repellent and magnetic.2004, Judith Levine, Do You Remember Me?: A Father, a Daughter, and a Search for the Self, Free Press, →ISBN, page 146. From the entry boxer-short
The Prehistoric Cemetery at Mycenae provides our most coherent glimpse of the Middle Hellenic period at Mycenae.2000, Maureen Joan Alden, Well Built Mycenae, Oxbow Books, page 1. From the entry Mycenae
They provide a glimpse into lives that we might never encounter elsewhere.1999, Various, The Haves and Have Nots, Penguin, →ISBN. From the entry have
Neverthemore, at its dead-center, I glimpse my friend Wrackett maneuvering his instrument, actually a fluto-phone.1998, Giose Rimanelli, Luigi Fontanella, Hot Dog: A Novel, page 32. From the entry neverthemore
I caught a glimpse of a brown boot, the tongue flapping, the sole tied on with string.1990, J. M. Coetzee, chapter 3, in Age of Iron, New York: Random House, page 96. From the entry tongue
His aftersign is the bridge of beauty glimpsed through shifting cloud.1979, Mark O'Connor, The Eating Tree. From the entry aftersign
To mismean is not to mean; to mismean is to honor a meaning glimpsed but unmeant.1978, Clayton Eshleman, What she means. From the entry mismean
However, you will glimpse a few of the well-proportioned rooms and furnishings supplied by successive Mrs Presidents.1969, “Washington D.C.”, in Anna Crew, editor, Student Guide to North America 1969, London: British Student Travel Centre, page 49. From the entry Mrs President
Though I only caught a glimpse of him, I could see that his upper lip was stiff.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “II AND XV”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC. From the entry stiff upper lip
"Look back, Peter," he said, "and you can get your last glimpse of your native soil.1919, Joseph A. Altsheler, chapter 4, in The Sun Of Quebec. From the entry native soil
She spoke in wonder, for Patricia had glimpsed an unguessed Rudolph Musgrave.1915, James Branch Cabell, The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck. From the entry unguessed
“I caught only a glimpse of an Arab in a dark-blue burnoose and white turban,” replied Tarzan.1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Dancing Girl of Sidi Aissa”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt…. From the entry burnoose
Emerging from Dublin airport, just-landed NFL fans will see glimpses of Croke Park on the horizon of the city’s northside.2025 September 26, Michael Walker, “A history of Croke Park, the NFL’s latest venue across the Pond”, in The Athletic, New York, N.Y.: The…. From the entry across the pond
What I’m describing, of course, is a lost world, glimpsed only through history books or the memories of old people.2023 July 21, Caitlin Flanagan, “America’s Corporate Tragedy”, in The Atlantic. From the entry lost world
The skull gives researchers a rare glimpse into the history of these bamboo-loving floofers, and of bears in general.2018 June 19, Elijah Wolfson, Katherine Ellen Foley, Olivia Goldhill, “Humans should stop meddling with pandas and let them die”, in Quartz. From the entry floofer

Meaning of glimpse

verb To see or view (someone, or something tangible) briefly and incompletely.
verb To perceive (something intangible) briefly and incompletely.
verb Chiefly followed by at or upon: to look at briefly and incompletely; to glance.

Full definition of glimpse

Questions about glimpse in a sentence

How do you use glimpse in a sentence?: Glimpse is used as a verb and noun. For example: “I have only begun to glimpse the magnitude of the problem.”
What is a short sentence with glimpse?: “I glimpsed a vile squid-like creature in the depths.”
What does glimpse mean?: Glimpse means to see or view (someone, or something tangible) briefly and incompletely.

Adapted from Wiktionary: glimpse (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use glimpse in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/glimpse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.