glimmer
Americannoun
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a faint or unsteady light; gleam.
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a dim perception; inkling.
verb (used without object)
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to shine faintly or unsteadily; twinkle, shimmer, or flicker.
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to appear faintly or dimly.
verb
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(of a light, candle, etc) to glow faintly or flickeringly
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to be indicated faintly
hope glimmered in his face
noun
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a glow or twinkle of light
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a faint indication
Synonym Usage
See gleam.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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glimmersimple
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glimmerssimple
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have glimmeredperfect
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has glimmeredperfect
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are glimmeringprogressive
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am glimmeringprogressive
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is glimmeringprogressive
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have been glimmeringperfect progressive
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has been glimmeringperfect progressive
Past
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glimmeredsimple
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had glimmeredperfect
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was glimmeringprogressive
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were glimmeringprogressive
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had been glimmeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glimmer
1300–50; Middle English glimeren “to gleam”; cognate with German glimmern; compare Old English gleomu “splendor”
Explanation
A glimmer is a tiny glint of light or the sliver of an idea. Either way, it's a sign of a lot more going on behind the scenes. A glimmer of light is just a little bit of light, maybe sneaking through the curtains enough to make a flicker on the floor. A glimmer of an idea is just a small inkling of an idea. When someone doesn't understand something, you could make them feel worse by saying, "You don't have a glimmer of what I'm talking about, do you?" When it comes to light, you can also say light is glimmering, or gleaming. People often say stars are glimmering.
Vocabulary lists containing glimmer
"Harrison Bergeron"
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"Of Mice and Men"
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
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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.
But reconstruction provides a glimmer of hope here, where some residents said it helps them cope with the tragedy they lived through.
From Barron's • Jun. 6, 2026
Yet one piece of Stellantis’s struggling business gave a glimmer of hope for Filosa: a partnership with an obscure Chinese automaker called Leapmotor.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026
A break back gave Raducanu a glimmer of hope and belief started to creep in when she levelled the set at 5-5 with Sierra serving for the match.
From BBC • May 24, 2026
Even so, he held on to a glimmer of optimism.
From Salon • May 24, 2026
When I came up for air the first time, I could still see a glimmer of light from the boat.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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.
