Did you know?
There’s a glitch in the etymology of glitch—it may come from the Yiddish glitsh, meaning “slippery place,” but that’s not certain. Print use of glitch referring to a brief unexpected surge of electrical current dates to the mid-20th century. Astronaut John Glenn, in his 1962 book Into Orbit, felt the need to explain the term to his readers: “Literally, a glitch is a spike or change in voltage in an electrical circuit which takes place when the circuit suddenly has a new load put on it.” Today, the word can be used of any minor malfunction or snag. If you’re a gamer you might even take advantage of a glitch that causes something unexpected, and sometimes beneficial, to happen in the game.
Examples of glitch in a Sentence
R.j. Rico, Fortune, 20 June 2026
The high school exam board, CBSE, has faced public outrage over an electronic marking system plagued with technical glitches, during which students said answers were wrongly marked or, in some cases, answer sheets were omitted entirely.
—Mithil Aggarwal, NBC news, 20 June 2026
Interviews with fans and industry experts show that some cases stem from technical glitches in the transfer process, while others could involve sellers who never had tickets to deliver in the first place, though StubHub denies such sales happen on its platform.
—ABC News, 19 June 2026
In some cases, the cause isn't fraud or a banking glitch, either.
—Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 15 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for glitch
Cite this Entry
“Glitch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glitch. Accessed 23 Jun. 2026.
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glitch
noun
