Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having or deserving glory; famous.
  • adjective Conferring or advancing glory.
  • adjective Characterized by great beauty and splendor; magnificent.
  • adjective Delightful; wonderful.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Full of glory; characterized by attributes, qualities, or achievements that are worthy of or receive glory; of exalted excellence or splendor; illustrious; resplendent.
  • Full of boasting; boastful; vainglorious; haughty; ostentatious.
  • Eager for, or striving after, glory or distinction.
  • Recklessly jolly; hilarious; elated: generally applied to a tipsy person.
  • Synonyms Preëminent, distinguished, famous, magnificent, grand, splendid, radiant, brilliant.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration.
  • adjective obsolete Eager for glory or distinction; haughty; boastful; ostentatious; vainglorious.
  • adjective colloq. Ecstatic; hilarious; elated with drink.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds.
  • adjective Splendid; resplendent; bright; shining, as the sun, gold, or other shiny objects.
  • adjective obsolete Eager for glory or distinction; haughty; boastful; ostentatious; vainglorious.
  • adjective colloquial Ecstatic; hilarious; elated with drink.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective characterized by grandeur
  • adjective having great beauty and splendor
  • adjective having or deserving or conferring glory

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Anglo-Norman and Old French glorius et al., from Latin glōriōsus. Replaced native Middle English wuldrig, from Old English.

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Examples

  • He does not like the term glorious ', which was invented, he says, by journalists.

    Evening Standard - Home 2010

  • Belton, to hold themselves in readiness to obey his summons, on the likelihood there is of room for what he calls glorious mischief.

    Clarissa Harlowe 2006

  • "This is what I call glorious," said Ned, as he opened a can of condensed milk and passed it around.

    Canoe Boys and Campfires Adventures on Winding Waters William Murray Graydon 1905

  • They had been successful the past winter and had sold their furs for a good price, and now Johnnie had plenty of money and was having what he termed a glorious good time, spending from ten to forty dollars a day.

    Thirty-One Years on the Plains and In the Mountains Drannan, William F 1899

  • They had been successful the past winter and had sold their furs for a good price, and now Johnnie had plenty of money and was having what he termed a glorious good time, spending from ten to forty dollars a day.

    Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains William F. Drannan 1872

  • The wagons had been emptied, and grain and meal stored under cover; horses and bullocks had a good feed, and one of the wagons was demolished for firewood, our whole force revelling in what they called a glorious roast of beef.

    Charge! A Story of Briton and Boer George Manville Fenn 1870

  • In later Greece -- in what we call the glorious period -- toil had gathered about it its modern crust of supposed baseness -- it was left to slaves; and wise men, in their philosophic lecture-rooms, spoke of it as unworthy of the higher specimens of cultivated humanity.

    Short Studies on Great Subjects James Anthony Froude 1856

  • I know that feyther, both before and after his removal to Lunnon, used to make us all drink the '' Ard ware of Old Hingland '-- by witch, "she proceeded, correcting herself by a reproving glance from the sheriff --" by witch he meant what he called the glorious sinews of the country at large, lestwise in the manufacturing districts.

    Willy Reilly The Works of William Carleton, Volume One William Carleton 1831

  • Warns Belford, Mowbray, Tourville, and Belton, to hold themselves in readiness to obey his summons, on the likelihood there is of room for what he calls glorious mischief.

    Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 1 Samuel Richardson 1725

  • And finally, if you just couldn't stand watching the original Star Trek on the CBS site, you can now watch full episodes in 'glorious' YouTube format on YouTube!

    Tube Bits for 10/13/2008 2008

Comments

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  • having great beauty and splendor.

    October 31, 2007