glittering

adjective

glit·​ter·​ing ˈgli-tə-riŋ 

1

a

: shining with many bright points of light

Every few days a little glittering aeroplane appeared in the sky among the clouds and the circling hawks.

—Doris Lessing

And where the water had been trickling over and spurting through the dam there was now a glittering wall of icicles …

—C. S. Lewis

b

: shining with strong emotion

… after being misdirected almost consistently, she goes out in glory, with glittering eyes and a lewd smile.

—Pauline Kael

2

: brilliantly or showily impressive : dazzling

a glittering career

… the company today caters a glittering array of premiere social and corporate galas, from Poughkeepsie to Palm Beach.

—Robert Masello

also : superficially attractive or exciting

… they left behind the glittering social life of Orlando …

—Douglas Frantz et al.

glitteringly

ˈgli-tə-riŋ-lē 

adverb

His libretto is very bare, a skeleton of short, clear phrases on to which he has grafted slivers of music glitteringly alive thanks to his fine ear for sound.

—Richard Fairman

Examples of glittering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The county became a glittering crystal mecca not necessarily because of top-down industrial policy, but because of a nearly all-consuming drive to hustle. —Louise Matsakis Rachel Zheng, Wired News, 20 Jan. 2026

The song eventually escalates into a lecherous, breathless, glittering climax of incandescent synthesizers and melodic moans—an erotic asphyxiation depicted as utterly glorious. —Literary Hub, 14 Jan. 2026

She was pictured at the party with husband Nick Jonas wearing an off-white glittering strapless gown. —Meg Walters, InStyle, 12 Jan. 2026

Entering the 53-floor neoclassical building is a feast for the eyes: the glamorous lobby is complete with a marble grand staircase and glittering chandeliers. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for glittering

• littering
• skittering
• twittering