glitch

noun

ˈglich 

1

a

: a usually minor malfunction

a glitch in a spacecraft's fuel cell

also : bug entry 1 sense 2

b

: a minor problem that causes a temporary setback : snag

2

: a false or spurious electronic signal

glitchy

ˈgli-chē

adjective

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

Glitches in the speaker's schedule caused some delays.

A technical glitch caused a temporary shutdown.

Recent Examples on the Web

While officials said the issue was resolved in March, numerous students are still hitting similar glitches, Sainz said. —The Arizona Republic, 18 Apr. 2024

Dozens of cybersecurity officials worked through the night to repel the attack and to fix the glitches, and by the next morning there was little sign that a catastrophe had been averted when the first events got underway. —Tariq Panja, New York Times, 16 Apr. 2024

Nor did the glitch have any effect on either the Jackson County or Kansas City election boards on this Election Day. —Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 2 Apr. 2024

College administrators suspect that some high error rates result from technical glitches students encountered incompleting the new financial aid form. —Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024

But the update has been marred by delays and technical glitches. —Collin Binkley, Fortune, 25 Mar. 2024

Death chamber glitch halts execution of serial killer Thomas Creech Last month, the Superior Court of Spalding County set the seven-day window for Pye's execution, beginning at 12 p.m. ET and expiring on March 27 at 12 p.m. ET. —Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 19 Mar. 2024

But the new system fell behind schedule and then filling out and processing applications exposed serious glitches. —Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2024

The goal there is to address the specific glitches in a person’s balance system and create an exercise plan to alleviate them. —Amy Norton, SELF, 29 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

perhaps from Yiddish glitsh slippery place, from glitshn (zikh) to slide, glide; akin to Old High German glītan to glide — more at glide

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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Kids Definition

glitch

noun

ˈglich 

: an unexpected usually minor problem

glitches in a new computer program