glow
Americannoun
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a light emitted by or as if by a substance heated to luminosity; incandescence.
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brightness of color.
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a sensation or state of bodily heat.
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a warm, ruddy color of the cheeks.
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warmth of emotion or passion; ardor.
verb (used without object)
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to emit bright light and heat without flame; become incandescent.
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to shine like something intensely heated.
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to exhibit a strong, bright color; be lustrously red or brilliant.
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(of the cheeks) to exhibit a healthy, warm, ruddy color.
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to become or feel very warm or hot.
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to show emotion or elation.
to glow with pride.
noun
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light emitted by a substance or object at a high temperature
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a steady even light without flames
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brilliance or vividness of colour
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brightness or ruddiness of complexion
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a feeling of wellbeing or satisfaction
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intensity of emotion; ardour
verb
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to emit a steady even light without flames
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to shine intensely, as if from great heat
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to be exuberant or high-spirited, as from excellent health or intense emotion
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to experience a feeling of wellbeing or satisfaction
to glow with pride
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(esp of the complexion) to show a strong bright colour, esp a shade of red
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to be very hot
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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glowsimple
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glowssimple
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have glowedperfect
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has glowedperfect
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am glowingprogressive
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are glowingprogressive
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is glowingprogressive
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have been glowingperfect progressive
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has been glowingperfect progressive
Past
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glowedsimple
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had glowedperfect
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was glowingprogressive
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were glowingprogressive
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had been glowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glow
First recorded before 1000; Middle English glowen (verb), Old English glōwan; akin to German glühen, Old Norse glōa
Explanation
To glow is to shine with light. On a clear night when the moon is full, it glows in the sky. A nightlight glows in a dark room, and a distant flashlight beam glows like a candle. Other things that glow include fireflies, TV screens, and city lights when seen from an airplane at night. A person's face can also be said to glow, when it's shining and flushed with health or happiness. The radiance of light or pleasure itself can also be called a glow, from the Old English glowan, "to shine as if red-hot."
Vocabulary lists containing glow
All Aglow: Light Lingo
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 5
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This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for March 6–12, 2021
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"We don't know quite what's going to happen, but hopefully they'll survive and thrive and we'll have lots of little glow worms in the future."
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
They looked suffused with happiness, and the glow of victory.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
This created a form of plasma called a glow discharge.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
Rondo isn’t the only company looking to reduce emissions from heat used in manufacturing: Another startup, Antora, uses carbon blocks for its battery that glow red when heated up—also like a toaster.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Nothing was different except the warm glow that was in my belly and my arms and my legs and my head and wouldn’t go away.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
A video published by BBC Persian from Karaj shows booms upon the horizon, as the night sky lights up with blue and red glows.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026
On my final morning Puistokahvila Makia glows gold against a blue commute.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026
What remains can now only be detected in mid-infrared light, where it glows at roughly one-tenth of its original intensity.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 14, 2026
Kent’s jet-black sea is indistinguishable from the cosmos, and his white whale glows like some luminary body within it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
It glows like a sun inside my dimly lit bed canopy, and knocks around the night-lantern.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Like the store’s sign, the sky glowed Big Orange, hex code #F96302, or Pantone 165 C, available in the paint department inside.
From Slate ● Jan. 27, 2026
Siphonophores -- largely translucent creatures in fanciful shapes resembling toddlers' drawings -- glowed as they drifted by, and silver, fingernail-sized fish skittered out of the sub's wake.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
The dining room glowed like a film set, its gently arched brick and brass softening Barcelona’s usual edge.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2025
They added a molecular tag to the spherical nucleic acids that glowed under near-infrared light.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2025
It was also their nests, made of glistening bubbles that absorbed sunlight and glowed all night, as if hundreds of miniature rainbows had gathered for a party.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
Proponents offer sweeping claims about their benefits, ranging from glowing skin and muscle growth to brain health and wound healing.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Such glowing reviews seemed improbable only a few weeks ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
By the third time I’d logged it in 2020, “Vox Lux” earned a full, effusive five stars, a heart, and a glowing review.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
Woodrow told the BBC that the "evening was perfect and incredible" with everyone involved "beaming and glowing", while "the whole place had such a positive atmosphere".
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The goons fall through the air and into the glowing purple portal—only to disappear entirely.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.