Glaring

How to spell glaring

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce glaring

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does glaring mean?

1. adjectiveSo obvious that it cannot be overlooked, usually of a fault or mistake.
2. adjectiveShining with an unpleasantly strong, dazzling brightness.
3. verbPresent participle of glare: staring at someone with a fierce, angry expression.

Glaring in a sentence

• adjective

  The report contained a glaring error in the final total.

• adjective

  She pulled down the blind to block the glaring afternoon sun.

• verb

  He sat in the corner glaring at everyone who walked in.

• adjective

  There was a glaring gap between what the company promised and what it delivered.

• adjective

  The glaring headlights made it hard to see the road ahead.

• verb

  The referee kept glaring at the players who argued the call.

Where does glaring come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word grows from the verb 'glare', which appears in Middle English as 'glaren', meaning to shine with a dazzling light or to stare in a hostile way. It is probably related to Middle Low German and Middle Dutch 'glaren', meaning to gleam or glow, and it belongs to a wider family of Germanic words clustered around the idea of brightness, including 'glass' and 'glance'. From the literal sense of a harsh, blinding light, the figurative meaning developed: something that 'glares' forces itself on the eye, so by extension a fault or error that is painfully obvious is described as 'glaring'. The present participle '-ing' form became a settled adjective by the 1600s, used both for dazzling brightness and for things conspicuously wrong. The spelling is straightforward once you note it keeps the single 'r' of 'glare' before the ending, dropping only the silent final 'e'.

How the word is built

• glare (Middle English glaren: to shine, to stare fiercely)
• -ing (adjective/participle suffix)