glittering

adjective

glit·​ter·​ing ˈgli-tə-riŋ 

1

a

: shining with many bright points of light

Every few days a little glittering aeroplane appeared in the sky among the clouds and the circling hawks.

—Doris Lessing

And where the water had been trickling over and spurting through the dam there was now a glittering wall of icicles …

—C. S. Lewis

b

: shining with strong emotion

… after being misdirected almost consistently, she goes out in glory, with glittering eyes and a lewd smile.

—Pauline Kael

2

: brilliantly or showily impressive : dazzling

a glittering career

… the company today caters a glittering array of premiere social and corporate galas, from Poughkeepsie to Palm Beach.

—Robert Masello

also : superficially attractive or exciting

… they left behind the glittering social life of Orlando …

—Douglas Frantz et al.

glitteringly

ˈgli-tə-riŋ-lē 

adverb

His libretto is very bare, a skeleton of short, clear phrases on to which he has grafted slivers of music glitteringly alive thanks to his fine ear for sound.

—Richard Fairman

Examples of glittering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To assemble the properties, Disney razed City Winery (which before that was another media center, the home of El Diario/La Prensa) and a full block of low-rise commercial buildings, but a 2013 rezoning precluded replacing them with a single glittering glass stalagmite. —Justin Davidson, Curbed, 4 Dec. 2024

The view of the glittering jade ocean from the bed is a highlight. —Harriet Marsden, The Week Uk, theweek, 2 Dec. 2024

The 40-year-old was deployed as a central defender or a defensive midfielder and had a glittering playing career. —Sam Joseph, CNN, 26 Nov. 2024

For 10 years, San Francisco's iconic drag club Oasis has lived up to its name as a glittering haven in SOMA. —Claire Reilly, Axios, 21 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a