gilded

adjective

gild·​ed ˈgil-dəd 

1

: covered or tinged with gold or a golden color

gilded icons

The reception room, just off the entryway, features colorful wall and ceiling decorations and a gilded overmantel mirror and matching cornices.

—Stephen May

2

: having a background of wealth and luxury : prosperous, luxurious

Emily Post was raised among New York's gilded elite.

—Susan Berfield

… despite the upper-crust background and the gilded résumé, Bonham Carter is a pretty modern chick off stage.

—Elizabeth Gleick

Examples of gilded in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Ben Affleck would very much like a side of golden arches to go along with his pair of gilded Oscars, thank you very much! — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 23 July 2026

The commission also recommended, as an alternative, shortening the arch itself while making the gilded statue even taller—a compromise that would leave the arch squat beneath a top-heavy sculpture. — Janay Kingsberry, The Atlantic, 19 July 2026

The gilded piece also featured an intricate array of pendants held in place by strings of gold beads that wrapped around the singer’s rib cage. — Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 17 July 2026

She was made of gilded plaster. — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 15 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of gild entry 1

First Known Use

1540, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for gilded

• builded