glee

noun

ˈglē 

1

: exultant high-spirited joy : merriment

dancing with glee

2

: a part-song for usually male voices

Synonyms

• cheer
• cheerfulness
• cheeriness
• festivity
• gaiety
• gayety
• gayness
• gleefulness
• hilarity
• jocundity
• joviality
• merriment
• merriness
• mirth
• mirthfulness

Examples of glee in a Sentence

They were dancing with glee.

He could hardly contain his glee over his victory.

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s a sinful sort of glee in watching all of this unfold, knowing that the same mournful character might be the next one to die. —David Sims, The Atlantic, 22 May 2025

Dougal is this boy turning into a man, who has so much anger in him and wants to prove himself, and there's such glee behind the eyes in the way that Sam plays this character. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 21 May 2025

Caruso potting a dunk, then head-butting the ball with glee. —Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 18 May 2025

The stock markets responded with glee, and by the end of the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 2.8%, the S&P 500 by about 3%, and the Nasdaq Composite by around 4%. —Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald, 12 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English glēo entertainment, music; akin to Old Norse glȳ joy, and perhaps to Greek chleuē joke

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing glee

• glee club

Rhymes for glee

• be
• bee
• bree
• cree
• fee
• flea
• flee
• free
• gee
• ghee
• he
• ki

Kids Definition

glee

noun

ˈglē 

1

: high-spirited joy

2

: an unaccompanied song for three or more voices

gleeful

-fəl

adjective

gleefully

-fə-lē

adverb

gleefulness noun