Glorified

How to spell glorified

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce glorified

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does glorified mean?

1. adjectiveMade to seem more impressive, important, or grand than something actually is.
2. verbPraised, honoured, or worshipped something or someone highly.

Glorified in a sentence

• adjective

  The new fitness tracker is really just a glorified pedometer.

• verb

  The congregation glorified God throughout the morning service.

• adjective

  His job title sounds senior, but the role is a glorified filing position.

• verb

  The biography glorified the founder and ignored all his failings.

Where does glorified come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin noun gloria, meaning 'glory, fame, or renown', whose origin within Latin is itself somewhat obscure. From gloria, Latin formed the verb glorificare, literally 'to make glorious', combining gloria with the verb facere, 'to make or do'; that same facere ending survives in dozens of English words such as 'magnify', 'clarify', and 'satisfy'. The verb passed through Old French as glorifier and entered English in the 1300s, at first in strictly religious contexts, meaning to honour or worship God. Over the centuries the past form 'glorified' picked up a dry, ironic adjective sense: describing something dressed up to seem grander than it truly is, as in 'a glorified clerk'. The single 'r' and the 'i' before the silent 'ed' are the usual spelling snags, since the stress sits on the first syllable.

How the word is built

• glori- (from Latin gloria: glory, fame)
• -fy (to make)
• -ed (past tense / participle suffix)