glint

verb

/ɡlɪnt/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they glint	/ɡlɪnt/ /ɡlɪnt/
he / she / it glints	/ɡlɪnts/ /ɡlɪnts/
past simple glinted	/ˈɡlɪntɪd/ /ˈɡlɪntɪd/
past participle glinted	/ˈɡlɪntɪd/ /ˈɡlɪntɪd/
-ing form glinting	/ˈɡlɪntɪŋ/ /ˈɡlɪntɪŋ/

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[intransitive] (+ adv./prep.) to produce small bright flashes of light
- The sea glinted in the moonlight.
- The sun glinted on the windows.
Synonyms shine
shine
- gleam
- glow
- sparkle
- glisten
- shimmer
- glitter
- twinkle
- glint
These words all mean to produce or reflect light.
- shine to produce or reflect light, especially brightly:
  The sun was shining and the sky was blue.
- gleam to shine with a clear bright or pale light, especially a reflected light:
  Moonlight gleamed on the water.
- glow (often of something hot or warm) to produce a steady light that is not very bright:
  The end of his cigarette glowed red.
- sparkle to shine brightly with small flashes of light:
  The diamonds sparkled in the light.
- glisten (of something wet) to shine:
  The road glistened wet after the rain.
- shimmer to shine with a soft light that seems to shake slightly:
  Everything seemed to shimmer in the heat.
- glitter to shine brightly with small flashes of reflected light:
  The ceiling of the cathedral glittered with gold.
sparkle or glitter?There is very little difference in meaning between these two words. Glitter can sometimes suggest a lack of depth, but this is more frequent in the figurative use of glitter as a noun: the superficial glitter of show business. Sparkle is also often used to talk about light reflected off a surface, but things that produce light can also sparkle: Stars sparkled in the sky.
- twinkle to shine with a light that changes rapidly from bright to faint to bright again:
  Stars twinkled in the sky.
- glint to give small bright flashes of reflected light:
  The blade of the knife glinted in the darkness.
Patterns
- to shine/gleam/sparkle/glisten/shimmer/glitter/glint on something
- to shine/gleam/glow/sparkle/glisten/shimmer/glitter/twinkle/glint with something
- to shine/gleam/sparkle/glisten/shimmer/glitter/glint in the sunlight
- to shine/gleam/glisten/shimmer/glitter/glint in the moonlight
- the stars shine/sparkle/glitter/twinkle
- somebody’s eyes shine/gleam/glow/sparkle/glisten/glitter/twinkle/glint
- to shine/gleam/glow/glitter brightly
- to shine/gleam/glow/shimmer softly
Extra Examples
- A flash of a blade glinted in the darkness.
- Her glasses were glinting in the firelight.
[intransitive] + adv./prep. if a person’s eyes glint with a particular emotion, or an emotion glints in a person’s eyes, the person shows that emotion, which is usually a strong one
- Her eyes glinted angrily.
- Hostility glinted in his eyes.
Extra Examples
- Her eyes glinted with amusement.
- Amusement glinted in his eyes.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- angrily
preposition
- with
See full entry

Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘move quickly or obliquely’): variant of dialect glent, probably of Scandinavian origin and related to Swedish dialect glänta, glinta ‘to slip, slide, gleam’.

glint

noun

/ɡlɪnt/

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a sudden flash of light or colour shining from a bright surface
- the glint of the sun on the water
- golden glints in her red hair
- She saw a glint of silver in the grass.
Extra Examples
- Among the trees I caught a glint of blue.
- He saw the glint of a knife and froze.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- metallic
verb + glint
- catch
- see
preposition
- glint of
See full entry
an expression in somebody’s eyes showing a particular emotion, often a negative one
- He had a wicked glint in his eye.
- a glint of anger
Extra Examples
- He had a dangerous glint in his eyes.
- There was a glint of amusement in her eyes.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- dangerous
- determined
- mischievous
- …
verb + glint
- have
glint + verb
- appear in somebody’s eye/eyes
- come into somebody’s eye/eyes
preposition
- glint in
- glint of
See full entry