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Synonyms

gloat

American  
[gloht] / gloʊt /

verb (used without object)

  1. to look at or think about with great or excessive, often smug or malicious, satisfaction.

    The opposing team gloated over our bad luck.

noun

  1. an act or feeling of gloating.

gloat British  
/ ɡləʊt /

verb

  1. to dwell (on) with malevolent smugness or exultation

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the act of gloating

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See glare 1.

Other Word Forms

  • gloater noun
  • gloatingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of gloat

1565–75; perhaps akin to Old Norse glotta “to smile scornfully”; compare German glotzen “to stare”

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.