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
Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 14 June 2026
The Bad Glitches There are some wonky animations and glitches.
—Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026
Ash is aware there are some glitches in his movie.
—Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 12 June 2026
The unprecedented size of SpaceX’s debut makes the market mechanics more complicated, and the fear of unexpected glitches like the ones that derailed Facebook’s IPO in 2012 is guaranteed to keep executives on edge.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 12 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 16 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
glitch
noun
