A brilliant flash; a glint.
Used in a Sentence
glisters
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for glisters.
Editorial note
All that glisters is not gold— Often have you heard that told.
Examples11
Definitions3
Parts of speech2
Quick take
A brilliant flash; a glint.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of glisters gathered in one view.
Alternative form of clyster. [(now rare) A medicine applied via the rectum; an enema or suppository.]
(intransitive, archaic) To gleam, glisten, or coruscate.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for glisters.
noun
A brilliant flash; a glint.
noun
Alternative form of clyster. [(now rare) A medicine applied via the rectum; an enema or suppository.]
verb
(intransitive, archaic) To gleam, glisten, or coruscate.
Example sentences
All that glisters is not gold— Often have you heard that told.
It's difficult to pick examples but an influential line like 'all that glisters is not gold' could be translated to the equivalent of 'don't be fooled by appearances' but that would just kill the imagery and poetic quality.
It seems to be an American English thing, though the seminal example comes from Shakespeare: "All that glisters is not gold".
Notably Shakespeare uses the word "glisters" in the first phrase.
>gold, which glitters, is not gold that's the poetic point "All that glisters is not gold— Often have you heard that told.
“All that glisters is not gold” - William Shakespeare, "The Merchant of Venice."
For example, a famous aphorism is "all that glisters is not gold" (often diluted, in recent centuries, to "all that glitters is not gold"), which is surely not intended to claim that gold never glitters.
Quote examples
It seems to be an American English thing, though the seminal example comes from Shakespeare: "All that glisters is not gold".
Notably Shakespeare uses the word "glisters" in the first phrase.
>gold, which glitters, is not gold that's the poetic point "All that glisters is not gold— Often have you heard that told.
“All that glisters is not gold” - William Shakespeare, "The Merchant of Venice."
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use glisters in a sentence?
All that glisters is not gold— Often have you heard that told.
What does glisters mean?
A brilliant flash; a glint.
What part of speech is glisters?
glisters is commonly used as noun, verb.