glee

¹

[ glee ]

noun

1. open delight or pleasure; exultant joy; exultation.

   Synonyms: gaiety, joviality, mirth, hilarity, jollity, merriment

2. an unaccompanied part song for three or more voices, popular especially in the 18th century.

glee

²

[ glee ]

verb (used without object)

1. to squint or look with one eye.

noun

1. a squint.
2. an imperfect eye, especially one with a cast.

glee

/ ɡliː /

noun

1. great merriment or delight, often caused by someone else's misfortune
2. a type of song originating in 18th-century England, sung by three or more unaccompanied voices Compare madrigal

Word History and Origins

Origin of glee¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English glēo; cognate with Old Norse glȳ; akin to glow

Origin of glee²

1250–1300; Middle English glien, gleen; perhaps < Scandinavian; compare Old Norse gljā to shine

Word History and Origins

Origin of glee¹

Old English gléo; related to Old Norse glӯ

Synonym Study

See mirth.

Example Sentences

This is masks-off, hate-emboldened, raw anger, mixed with utter glee.

From Salon

In 2023, he said with unbridled glee on the "Benny Show" that mass deportations and "putting kids in cages" would be "glorious."

From Salon

“I remember on ‘The Postman’ we hit a record for junkets,” she says, leaning forward with glee.

From Los Angeles Times

"That's enough, Steve, You've dispossessed tens of thousands of Americans out of their homes," I announced in my stentorian, second-bass Yale Glee Club voice, rising from a seat at a table not far from the dais, where Schwarzman was holding forth self- indulgently about a donation he'd made.

From Salon

Jaden Jefferson let the glee of victory overtake his face as the clock expired.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• delight
• elation
• exhilaration
• exuberance
• joy
• pleasure
• verve