Gloss Meaning
/ɡlɒs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA surface shine or luster.
nounA superficially or deceptively attractive appearance.
Sentence Examples
The girl bought some lip gloss at the convenience store.
I can't find my lip gloss.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The painter applied a final ____ to the table to give it a shiny finish.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She applied a layer of clear ____ over the pink lipstick to give her lips a more hydrated and shiny look.
Word Origin & History
Probably from a North Germanic language, compare Icelandic glossi (“spark, flame”), glossa (“to flame”); or perhaps from dialectal Dutch gloos (“a glow, flare”), related to West Frisian gloeze (“a glow”), Middle Low German glȫsen (“to smoulder, glow”), German glosen (“to smoulder”); ultimately from Proto-Germanic *glus- (“to glow, shine”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰel- (“to flourish; be green or yellow”). More at glow.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"To me more dear, congenial to my heart, / One native charm than all the gloss of art."
— 1770, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Deserted Village, a Poem, London: […] W[illiam] Griffin, […], →OCLC:
"Hodgson may now have to bring in James Milner on the left and, on that basis, a certain amount of gloss was taken off a night on which Welbeck scored twice but barely celebrated either before leaving the pitch angrily complaining to the Slovakian referee."
— 2013 September 7, Daniel Taylor, “Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban”, in The Guardian:
"You have the art to gloss the foulest cause."
— 1722, Ambrose Philips, The Briton:
"All this, without a gloss or comment, / He would unriddle in a moment."
— 1684, Samuel Butler, Hudibras:
"He was a prolific annotator - writing around fifty thousand glosses in as many as twenty manuscripts."
— 2021, Mary Wellesley, The Gilded Page: The Secret Lives of Medieval Manuscripts, page 9:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The painter applied a final ____ to the table to give it a shiny finish.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She applied a layer of clear ____ over the pink lipstick to give her lips a more hydrated and shiny look.