gloss

1 of 4

noun (1)

ˈgläs 

ˈglȯs

1

: a surface luster or brightness : shine

2

a

: a deceptively attractive appearance

selfishness that had a gloss of humanitarianism about it

b

: bright often superficial attractiveness

show-biz gloss

3

: a viscous usually tinted cosmetic preparation used for adding shine and usually color to the lips : lip gloss

gloss

2 of 4

verb (1)

glossed; glossing; glosses

transitive verb

1

a

: to mask the true nature of : give a deceptively attractive appearance to

—used with over

the misery was general, where not glossed over by liberal application of alcohol

—Marston Bates

b

: to deal with (a subject or problem) too lightly or not at all

—used with over

glosses over scholarly controversies rather than confronting them head-on

—John Israel

2

: to give a gloss to

gloss

3 of 4

noun (2)

1

a

: a brief explanation (as in the margin or between the lines of a text) of a difficult or obscure word or expression

b

: a false and often willfully misleading interpretation (as of a text)

2

a

: glossary

b

: an interlinear translation

c

: a continuous commentary accompanying a text

3

: commentary, interpretation

gloss

4 of 4

verb (2)

glossed; glossing; glosses

transitive verb

1

a

: to provide a gloss for : explain, define

b

: interpret

2

: to dispose of by false or perverse interpretation

trying to gloss away the irrationalities of the universe

—Irwin Edman

Did you know?

If you’re the type of word nerd who finds poring over book glossaries to be the bee’s knees, we know you’ll get a buzz from this gloss of the verb gloss. To gloss something, such as a word or phrase, is to explain or define it. The noun gloss, it follows, refers to (among other things) a brief explanation of a word or expression. And a glossary of course is a collection of textual glosses, or of specialized terms, with their meanings. Both forms of gloss, as well as the word glossary, trace back to the Greek noun glôssa, meaning “tongue,” “language,” or “obscure word requiring explanation.” Another descendent of glôssa, the English noun glossa, refers not to a bee’s knees but to a bee’s tongue, or to the tongue of another insect.

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• facade
• veneer
• façade

Verb (1)

• excuse
• justify
• explain
• explain away
• gloze (over)

Examples of gloss in a Sentence

Noun (1)

used a computer to give her astrological predictions the gloss of real science

the surface has such a high gloss, you can see your face reflected in it

Verb (1)

I don't want to gloss over her misbehavior, but keep in mind that she's been under a lot of stress lately

this biographer tends to gloss over his subject's many character flaws

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Both shows remind us that before all the gloss is applied, making magazines and making television is a job. —Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 12 June 2025

Most importantly, the conservation angle isn’t some campaign gloss. —Shelby Knick, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025

Verb

The resulting record features Taff’s beautiful and reasonably raw covers of tunes by Prince, Bill Withers, U2 and Depeche Mode, for starters, all played for grit, not gloss. —Chris Willman, Variety, 14 June 2025

The liquid-to-matte formula glides on weightlessly, providing all-day wear with food-grade ingredients, and can be easily glossed by layering over with a clear balm. —Laia Farran Graves, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

akin to Middle High German glosen to glow, shine; akin to Old English geolu yellow

Noun (2)

alteration (by conformation to its Latin and Greek source) of glose, gloze, going back to Middle English glose, borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Medieval Latin glōsa, glōssa "tongue, language, commentary on a word or passage, compilation of such commentaries" (Latin, "collection of unfamiliar words"), borrowed from Greek glôssa, (Attic) glôtta, (Ionic) glássa "tongue, language, obscure word requiring explanation," derivative in *-i̯ā from the stem of a presumed root noun *glṓks "point, something pointed," perhaps going back to an Indo-European nominative *glōgh-s, genitive *gl̥gh-ós; from the same base Greek glôches "awns of a head of grain," glōchī́s "projecting point (as the end of a yoke fastening or the barb of an arrow)"

Note: Despite its Indo-European look, this set of Greek words has no definite congeners in other Indo-European languages; kinship with Slavic *glogŭ "hawthorn" (Czech hloh, Polish głóg, Serbian & Croatian glȍg; Russian glog "dogwood") is uncertain.

Verb (2)

alteration (after gloss entry 3) of glose, gloze, going back to Middle English glosen, borrowed from Anglo-French gloser, borrowed from Medieval Latin glōsāre, glōssāre, verbal derivative of glōsa, glōssa "commentary on a word or passage, compilation of such commentaries" — more at gloss entry 3

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1538, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (1)

1656, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun (2)

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (2)

1603, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing gloss

• gloss over
• lip gloss

Rhymes for gloss

• blas
• bos
• boss
• bosse
• clos
• crosse
• dos
• doss
• dross
• floss
• foss
• fosse

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Kids Definition

gloss

1 of 2 noun

ˈgläs 

ˈglȯs

1

: brightness from a smooth surface : luster, sheen

2

: a falsely attractive appearance

a thin gloss of good manners

gloss

2 of 2 verb

1

: to give a gloss to

2

: to smooth over : make falsely attractive

gloss over one's mistakes