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glower

B2
verbnoun

Pronunciation

UK

  • /ˈɡlaʊə(r)/
  • /ˈɡləʊə(r)/

US

  • /ˈɡlaʊər/

Description

Imagine a stormy sky - dark, heavy, and full of warning. That is the feeling behind this word. To glower at someone is to look at them with a dark, angry, or unfriendly expression. It is more than a quick look; it usually lasts for a moment and makes the anger easy to feel. A grumpy old man might do this at children playing too loudly, or a villain might do it at the hero before speaking. Think of it as an angry stare that says a lot without any words.

Examples

  1. 1

    Restaurant complaint

    He glowered at the waiter when his soup arrived cold.

  2. 2

    Silent anger

    She said nothing, just glowered across the table for the rest of dinner.

  3. 3

    Classroom conflict

    The teacher stopped talking when she saw two boys glowering at each other in the back row.

  4. 4

    Political image

    From the campaign poster, the candidate seemed to glower down at everyone walking past.

See also

verbto look at someone angrily or sullenly

Similar

Shades of meaning

Contrast

Used with (collocations)

  • glower at someone
  • glower across the room
  • glower in silence

Word family

Explore

  • hostile body language
  • sullen resentment

Forms and spellings

4 forms open this card.

Main spelling

  • glowerverbnoun

Forms

  • glowering-ing formverbnoun
  • gloweredpast tenseverbnoun
  • glowersverbnoun