glis·ten

(glĭs′ən)

intr.v. glis·tened, glis·ten·ing, glis·tens

1. To shine by reflection with a sparkling luster: "Sweat ... trickled in streams down his face and glistened in his beard" (Lois Lowry). See Synonyms at flash.

2. To be reflected with a sparkling luster: "The sun glistened upon his hair" (Robert Louis Stevenson).

A sparkling, lustrous shine.

[Middle English glisnen, from Old English glisnian; see ghel- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

glistening - reflecting light; "glistening bodies of swimmers"; "the horse's glossy coat"; "lustrous auburn hair"; "saw the moon like a shiny dime on a deep blue velvet carpet"; "shining white enamel"

shiny, glossy, lustrous, shining

bright - emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts; "the sun was bright and hot"; "a bright sunlit room"

glistening

adjective

Having a high, radiant sheen:

glassy, gleaming, glossy, lustrous, polished, shining, shiny.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Often he courses through the glistening high mountains, and often on the shouldered hills he speeds along slaying wild beasts, this keen-eyed god.

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His face was turned to the hillside, where a man had just emerged from the woods, and was halting irresolutely before the glaring expanse of upheaved gravel and glistening boulders that stretched between him and the shaded group.

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One was that of an impertinent cur, which, after snuffing at the heels of the glistening figure, put its tail between its legs and skulked into its master's back yard, vociferating an execrable howl.

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Long spears bristled from the rude battle-ships, as they slid noiselessly over the bosom of the water, propelled by giant muscles rolling beneath glistening, ebony hides.

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She took a Bible from the shelf, and read; then, laying it down, thought of the summer days and the bright springtime that would come--of the rays of sun that would fall in aslant, upon the sleeping forms--of the leaves that would flutter at the window, and play in glistening shadows on the pavement--of the songs of birds, and growth of buds and blossoms out of doors--of the sweet air, that would steal in, and gently wave the tattered banners overhead.

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Thus glistening for a moment, as slowly it subsided, and sank.

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As they looked, this lower mass moved, the glistening folds catching the moonlight, and they could see that the monster's progress was along the ground.

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I detested his pink, bald head, and his yellow whiskers, always soft and glistening. It was said he brushed them every night, as a woman does her hair.

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"Please don't," she cried, "it is cruel;" and I saw that her eyes were indeed glistening with tears.

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That part of the expedition was easy enough, though the horses were painfully glistening with icicles, and the aspect of the tram- conductors' faces presented a repulsive blending of crimson and purple.

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And at the bottom, quite in the shade, where the details are absorbed in the obscurity, the mastiff, with his eyes glistening like carbuncles, and shaking his chain, on which the double light from the lamp of Rosa and the lantern of Gryphus threw a brilliant glitter.

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Her cheeks were blushing with excitement and her eyes were glistening. She drew deep breaths of pleasure.

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