gleam means an appearance of light, especially one which is indistinct or small, or short-lived. It carries an Arena rating of 1988, earned across 23 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, gleam ranks #9 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #43 of 42,747 for Qualifying, #294 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #370 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
gleam is pronounced /ɡliːm/.
Why “gleam” is a great word
A small, brief, or faint flash or beam of light, its lineage descending from Middle English *glem*, *gleam*, from Old English *glǣm* ("gleam"), from Proto-Germanic *glaimiz* ("brightness, splendour"), from the ancient Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰley-* ("to shine"). Unlike "glare," which imposes a steady, aggressive brilliance, or "glimmer," which suggests a wavering, ghostly instability, a gleam is a discrete parcel of luminosity, a singular note of brightness held for a moment. It is the cold, precise point of light on the edge of a freshly honed blade; the quick, hopeful flash from a distant lighthouse between swells; the last amber ember winking once in the hearth before surrendering to ash—a quiet testament that in the pervasive dark, even the most transient shine constitutes a minor defiance.
Etymology
From Middle English glem, gleam, gleme (“shaft of light; part of a comet’s tail; reflected sparkle; dawn; daylight; radiance (physical or spiritual); something fleeting”), from Old English glǣm (“gleam”), from Proto-Germanic *glaimiz (“brightness; splendour”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley- (“to shine”). Cognates * German Low German Gleem (“shine, luster, gloss”) * Faroese glæma (“gleam, glimmer”) * Old High German glīmen (“to glow, shine”); gleimo, glīmo (“glowworm”) (Middle High German glīme, gleime) * Old Saxon glīmo (“brightness”)
noun
- An appearance of light, especially one which is indistinct or small, or short-lived.
- An indistinct sign of something; a glimpse or hint.e.g.“The rescue workers preserved a gleam of optimism that the trapped miners might still survive.”
- A bright, but intermittent or short-lived, appearance of something.
- A look of joy or liveliness on one's face.e.g.“[H]is black visage lighted up with a curious, mischievous gleam.” — 1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “Discovery”, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume I, Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor &
- Sometimes as hot gleam: a warm ray of sunlight; also, a period of warm weather, for instance, between showers of rain.
- Brightness or shininess; radiance, splendour.
verb
- Chiefly in conjunction with an adverb: to cause (light) to shine.
- To shine, especially in an indistinct or intermittent manner; to glisten, to glitter.
- To be strongly but briefly apparent.
- Of a hawk or other bird of prey: to disgorge filth from its crop or gorge.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).