# gleam

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡliːm/ · frequency rank #30,065

## Definitions
1. An appearance of light, especially one which is indistinct or small, or short-lived.
2. An indistinct sign of something; a glimpse or hint.
3. A bright, but intermittent or short-lived, appearance of something.
4. A look of joy or liveliness on one's face.
5. Sometimes as hot gleam: a warm ray of sunlight; also, a period of warm weather, for instance, between showers of rain.
6. Brightness or shininess; radiance, splendour.

## Etymology
From Middle English glem, gleam, gleme (“shaft of light; part of a comet’s tail; reflected sparkle; dawn; daylight; radiance (physical or spiritual); something fleeting”), from Old English glǣm (“gleam”), from Proto-Germanic *glaimiz (“brightness; splendour”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley- (“to shine”).
Cognates
* German Low German Gleem (“shine, luster, gloss”)
* Faroese glæma (“gleam, glimmer”)
* Old High German glīmen (“to glow, shine”); gleimo, glīmo (“glowworm”) (Middle High German glīme, gleime)
* Old Saxon glīmo (“brightness”)

## Easily confused with
- **glen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gleam-vs-glen)
- **gram** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gleam-vs-gram)
- **glee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gleam-vs-glee)
- **Guam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gleam-vs-guam)
- **great** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gleam-vs-great)
- **Glenn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gleam-vs-glenn)
- **gloom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gleam-vs-gloom)
- **golem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gleam-vs-golem)
- **glean** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gleam-vs-glean)
- **glens** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gleam-vs-glens)
- **glebe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gleam-vs-glebe)
- **gloat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gleam-vs-gloat)
- **gem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gem-vs-gleam)
- **gam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gam-vs-gleam)
- **glad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glad-vs-gleam)
- **gear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gear-vs-gleam)
- **glam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glam-vs-gleam)
- **germ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/germ-vs-gleam)
- **Gilead** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gilead-vs-gleam)

## Common misspellings (7)
`gelam`, `ggleam`, `glaem`, `gleamm`, `glema`, `glleam`, `lgeam`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/gleam