glory
/ˈɡloɹi/noun, verb
glory is spelled G-L-O-R-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 23 times per million words in written English, the 3,875th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Glory, the name). As a noun, glory means “Great beauty and splendor” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of glory is glories.
How many letters and syllables are in glory?
| Letters | 5: G-L-O-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 23 times per million words; the 3,875th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is glory?
Glory appears 23 times per million words in written English, the 3,875th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Glory, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce glory?
- UK /ˈɡlɔːɹi/
- British /ˈɡloːɹɪj/
- US /ˈɡloɹi/
Glory has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-glory.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Grendelkhan-glory.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with glory?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as glory from its last stressed vowel (/oɹi/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of glory
- glories plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- glorying participle, present
- gloried participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does glory mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Great beauty and splendor.
- 2
Honour, admiration, or distinction, accorded by common consent to a person or thing; high reputation; renown.
- 3
That quality in a person or thing which secures general praise or honour.
- 4
Worship or praise.
- 5
An optical phenomenon, consisting of concentric rings and somewhat similar to a rainbow, caused by sunlight or moonlight interacting with the water droplets that compose mist or clouds, centered on the antisolar or antilunar point.
- 6
Victory; success.
- 7
An emanation of light supposed to shine from beings that are specially holy. It is represented in art by rays of gold, or the like, proceeding from the head or body, or by a disk, or a mere line.
- 8
The manifestation of the presence of God as perceived by humans in Abrahamic religions.
verb
- 1
To exult with joy; to rejoice.
- 2
To boast; to be proud.
For if in anything I have gloried to him on your behalf, I was not put to shame; but as we spake all things to you in truth, so our glorying also, which I made before Titus, was found to be truth.
- 3
archaicTo shine radiantly.
Down in a casement sat, A low sea-sunset glorying round her hair
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Glory in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | gloire |
| German | Pracht, Herrlichkeit, Prunk, Gepränge , Ruhm, Glorie |
| Portuguese | glória |
| Spanish | gloria |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does glory come from?
From Middle English glory, glorie, from Old French glorie (“glory”), from Latin glōria (“glory, fame, renown, praise, ambition, boasting”). Doublet of gloria. Displaced native Old English wuldor.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).