- 1[intransitive] (+ adv./prep.) to produce small bright flashes of light The sea glinted in the moonlight. The sun glinted on the windows. Thesaurusshine
- gleam
- glow
- sparkle
- glisten
- shimmer
- glitter
- twinkle
- glint
- shine to produce or reflect light, especially brightly:The sun was shining and the sky was blue.
- gleam to shine with a clear bright or pale light, especially a reflected light:The moonlight gleamed on the water.
- glow (often of something hot or warm) to produce a dull, steady light:The end of his cigarette glowed red.
- sparkle to shine brightly with small flashes of light:The diamonds sparkled in the light.
- glisten (of something wet) to shine:Her eyes were glistening with tears.
- shimmer to shine with a soft light that seems to shake slightly:The road seemed to shimmer in the heat.
- glitter to shine brightly with small flashes of reflected light:The ceiling of the cathedral glittered with gold.
- There is very little difference in meaning between these two words. Glitter can sometimes suggest a lack of depth, but this is more frequent in the figurative use of glitter as a noun:the superficial glitter of show business. Sparkle is also often used to talk about light reflected off a surface, but things that produce light can also sparkle:The fireworks sparkled in the sky.
- twinkle to shine with a light that changes rapidly from bright to faint to bright again:Stars twinkled in the sky.
- glint to give small bright flashes of reflected light:The blade of the knife glinted in the darkness.
- to shine/gleam/sparkle/glisten/shimmer/glitter/glint on something
- to shine/gleam/glow/sparkle/glisten/shimmer/glitter/twinkle/glint with something
- to shine/gleam/sparkle/glisten/shimmer/glitter/glint in the sunlight/moonlight
- the stars shine/sparkle/glitter/twinkle
- somebody's eyes shine/gleam/glow/sparkle/glisten/glitter/twinkle/glint
- to shine/gleam/glow/glitter brightly
- to shine/gleam/glow/shimmer softly
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- 2[intransitive] + adv./prep. if a person's eyes glint with a particular emotion, or an emotion glints in a person's eyes, the person shows that emotion, which is usually a strong one Her eyes glinted angrily. Hostility glinted in his eyes.
glint
verbNAmE//ɡlɪnt//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they glint he / she / it glints
past simple glinted
-ing form glinting
Check pronunciation: glint