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
Mark Kennedy, Fortune, 23 May 2026
The shift is structural, not a glitch.
—Lisa Curtis, Forbes.com, 23 May 2026
For homeowners, this concern goes beyond a glitch.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 May 2026
The launch followed a last-minute scrub Thursday due to a minor glitch with a launch pad system and two weather delays before that.
—William Harwood, CBS News, 22 May 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 30 May. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
glitch
noun
