gild

¹

[ gild ]

verb (used with object)

, gild·ed or gilt, gild·ing.

1. to coat with gold, gold leaf, or a gold-colored substance.
2. to give a bright, pleasing, or specious aspect to.
3. Archaic. to make red, as with blood.

gild

²

[ gild ]

noun

1. guild.

gild

¹

/ ɡɪld /

noun

1. a variant spelling of guild

gild

²

/ ɡɪld /

verb

1. to cover with or as if with gold
2. gild the lily
   1. to adorn unnecessarily something already beautiful
   2. to praise someone inordinately
3. to give a falsely attractive or valuable appearance to
4. archaic.
   to smear with blood

Derived Forms

• ˈgildsman, noun
• ˈgilder, noun

Other Words From

• gilda·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of gild¹

1300–50; Middle English gilden, Old English -gyldan; akin to gold

Word History and Origins

Origin of gild¹

Old English gyldan, from gold gold ; related to Old Norse gylla, Middle High German vergülden

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. gild the lily, to add unnecessary ornamentation, a special feature, etc., in an attempt to improve something that is already complete, satisfactory, or ideal:

   After that wonderful meal, serving a fancy dessert would be gilding the lily.

Example Sentences

But critics from an array of perspectives in the film industry have described the standards as the equivalent of tinsel — flimsy and showy — doing more to gild Hollywood’s image than to help people the movie business has long overlooked.

From New York Times

So here’s my Nana’s original no-frills recipe, without any fuss, any tweaks or anything to gild the lily.

From Salon

“I can’t gild the lily,” he said.

From New York Times

“The challenge of it was to try to go to that place but not gild the lily too much,” Scott says.

From Seattle Times

“There’s enough in the actual facts that you don’t have to gild the lily and go overboard. That’s when they might risk turning off the independent-minded viewers who don’t like Trump.”

From Washington Times

Related Words

• adorn
• bedeck