gloat
verb /ɡləʊt/
/ɡləʊt/
[intransitive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they gloat | /ɡləʊt/ /ɡləʊt/ |
| he / she / it gloats | /ɡləʊts/ /ɡləʊts/ |
| past simple gloated | /ˈɡləʊtɪd/ /ˈɡləʊtɪd/ |
| past participle gloated | /ˈɡləʊtɪd/ /ˈɡləʊtɪd/ |
| -ing form gloating | /ˈɡləʊtɪŋ/ /ˈɡləʊtɪŋ/ |
- gloat (about/at/over something) to show that you are happy about your own success or somebody else’s failure, in an unpleasant way synonym crow
- She was still gloating over her rival's disappointment.
- Having lost a large percentage of the vote, they were in no position to gloat.
- I hope you haven’t just come here to gloat.
- He didn't want to hear her gloating at his misfortune.
Word Originlate 16th cent.: of unknown origin; perhaps related to Old Norse glotta ‘to grin’ and Middle High German glotzen ‘to stare’. The original sense was ‘give a sideways or furtive look’, hence ‘cast amorous or admiring glances’; the current sense dates from the mid 18th cent.