/ Sign up
English (UK)
Cambridge Dictionary Online

Meaning of glimmer in English

glimmer
verb [ I ]
uk
/ˈɡlɪm.ər/ us
/ˈɡlɪm.ɚ/
Add to word list Add to word list
to shine with a weak light or a light that is not continuous:
The lights of the village were glimmering in the distance.
glimmer with The sky glimmered with stars.
a glimmering candle
Synonym
gleam
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Giving out light
See more results »
glimmer
noun [ C ]
uk
/ˈɡlɪm.ər/ us
/ˈɡlɪm.ɚ/
(also glimmering, uk/ˈɡlɪm.ər.ɪŋ/ us/ˈɡlɪm.ɚ.ɪŋ/)

glimmer noun [C] (LIGHT)

a light that glimmers weakly:
glimmer of light We saw a glimmer of light in the distance.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Quantities & units of light
See more results »

glimmer noun [C] (SIGN)

a slight sign of something good or positive:
glimmer of hope This month's sales figures offer a glimmer of hope for the depressed economy.
glimmer of interest She's never shown a glimmer of interest in classical music.
glimmer of light The first glimmer of light (= sign of development or understanding) has appeared in the peace talks.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Showing and demonstrating
See more results »
(Definition of glimmer from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

glimmer | American Dictionary

glimmer
verb [ I ]
us
/ˈɡlɪm·ər/
Add to word list Add to word list
(of light) to shine without strength or not continuously:
A candle glimmered faintly in the darkened room.
glimmer
noun [ C ]
us
/ˈɡlɪm·ər/
a weak light that does not shine continuously :
a glimmer of light
A glimmer is also a slight sign:
The treaty offered a glimmer of hope to the region.
(Definition of glimmer from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of glimmer

glimmer
The economic situation nevertheless offers some glimmers of hope.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
The resolution makes no reference to the glimmers of hope for a negotiated solution which have been appearing in the last few hours.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
They have kept themselves so very close for many years that no one has a glimmering idea of what their intention is.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
Recently, we have discerned glimmers of expectation that the weight of tax relief is to be diverted to the reduction in the basic rate.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
I heard the glimmers of hope that she gave in her reply, but that excellent regional museum needs help sooner rather than later.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
What could have emerged more strongly is that there are in this vicious debate ingredients that give glimmers of hope.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
Nevertheless, there are certain glimmers of light through the foliage.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
However, there have been some glimmers of hope in the recent past.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
There were glimmers of that in yesterday's debate.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
Quite the opposite - a realistic assessment suggests that there are only a few faint glimmers of hope on a dark horizon.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
There are only glimmers of prospects for the future.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
Amidst the fashionable gloom there are at least some glimmers of light.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
Last year it was named as the northern business of the year—a well-deserved accolade—but such success stories are only small glimmers of light in a dark and bleak environment.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
The suffering is great, the prospects for further atrocities are bleak and the glimmers of hope are too dim for us not to examine and re-examine all choices.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
There are glimmers of hope.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
See all examples of glimmer
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
What is the pronunciation of glimmer?
 
What is the pronunciation of glimmering?
 

Translations of glimmer

in Chinese (Traditional)
發出微弱的光, 隱約閃爍, 光…
See more
in Chinese (Simplified)
发出微弱的光, 隐约闪烁, 光…
See more
in Spanish
brillar con luz trémula, luz trémula, un destello de alegría…
See more
in Portuguese
brilhar com uma luz fraca e trêmula, luz trêmula e fraca, um raio de felicidade…
See more
in more languages
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Czech
in Danish
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Korean
in Ukrainian
in Italian
かすかな光, ぼんやりとした光, かすかに光る…
See more
titrek ışık, titrek/cansız ışık vermek/yaymak, soğuk soğuk parıldamak…
See more
lueur [feminine], vaciller, luire faiblement…
See more
llum tènue, brillar amb llum tènue…
See more
zacht schitteren, zwak licht, sprankje…
See more
matně svítit, mihotat se, slabý zásvit…
See more
glimte, skinne, svagt lys…
See more
bercahaya redup, cahaya redup, sedikit…
See more
ส่องแสงสลัว, แสงมัว ๆ, จำนวนเล็กน้อย…
See more
le lói, tia sáng le lói, dấu hiệu yếu ớt về cái gì…
See more
promyk, migotanie, migotać…
See more
glimma, blänka, skimra…
See more
mengerdip samar-samar, cahaya yang samar-samar, sedikit…
See more
schimmern, der Schimmer…
See more
glimt [neuter], skimmer [neuter], streif [neuter]…
See more
희미한 빛, 희미하게 깜빡이다…
See more
мигтіти, тьмяно світити, мигтіння…
See more
barlume, luccichio, baluginare…
See more
Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool
 

Browse

glide through something
glided
glider
gliding
glimmer
glimmer with something
glimmered
glimmering
glimpse

Word of the Day

overwhelmed

UK
/ˌəʊ.vəˈwelm/
US
/ˌoʊ.vɚˈwelm/

past simple and past participle of overwhelm

About this

Blog

The Word Watcher: Climate

has been added to list
English (UK)   Change
English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी
Follow us
Choose a dictionary
  • Recent and Recommended
  • Definitions
    Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English
    English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
  • Grammar and thesaurus
    Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English
    Grammar Thesaurus
  • Pronunciation
    British and American pronunciations with audio
    English Pronunciation
  • Translation
    Click on the arrows to change the translation direction.
    Bilingual Dictionaries
    • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
    • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
    • English–Danish Danish–English
    • English–Dutch Dutch–English
    • English–French French–English
    • English–German German–English
    • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
    • English–Italian Italian–English
    • English–Japanese Japanese–English
    • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
    • English–Polish Polish–English
    • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
    • English–Spanish Spanish–English
    • English–Swedish Swedish–English
    Semi-bilingual Dictionaries
    English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
  • Dictionary +Plus
    Word Lists
Contents
My word lists

To add glimmer to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in
My word lists

Add glimmer to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

More
Go to your word lists
Tell us about this example sentence: