DictionaryAI

glad

GLAD/ɡlæd/

Noun pluralglads

5 meanings of glad

Practice

  1. 1
    happyadjectivenot before a noun
    Feeling pleased, happy, or satisfied about something.

    We were glad to hear the good news about her recovery.

    He seemed genuinely glad of the company on such a long journey.

    UsageSay glad to + verb, glad (that) + clause, or glad of something; it usually comes after a verb: I'm glad.

    Similarpleased, happy, delighted, thankful, grateful

    Oppositesad, sorry, unhappy

    Note

    Behind it is Old English glæd, 'shining, bright, cheerful', from a root meaning 'to shine'. The brightness seems to have come first, and the pleasure grew from it.

  2. 2
    willingadjective
    Willing and pleased to do something, typically followed by to, as when offering help.

    The librarian said she would be glad to track down an older edition for us.

    Our staff are glad to answer any questions you have about the new plan.

    UsageUsually be glad to + verb, often as a polite offer: I'd be glad to help.

    Similarhappy, pleased, willing, delighted

    Oppositereluctant, unwilling, loath

    Note

    This one looks forward: it names a willingness to do something, often as an offer, rather than a feeling about what has happened. I'd be glad to help is a polite yes; staff who are glad to answer questions are extending an invitation. Compare the plain "pleased" sense, which reports a feeling about a situation, past, present or planned (glad to hear the news, glad you're coming tomorrow).

  3. 3
    flowernouncolloquialcountablenot before a noun
    A gladiolus, the tall garden plant whose upright stalk bears a row of large, showy flowers.

    He cut a few glads for the church altar before the wedding.

    A single tall glad stood in the jar on the kitchen table.

    UsageCommon among gardeners and florists; elsewhere the full word gladiolus is the safer choice.

    Similargladiolus

    Note

    A clipped form of gladiolus, and a separate word from the glad of happiness that happens to share its spelling. It belongs to the garden and the flower trade: Lynn Byczynski's The Flower Farmer writes of glads grown widely as cut flowers.

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    adjectivearchaicnot before a noun
    Having a bright, cheerful appearance, or expressing and stirring up joy in those who see or hear it.
    Glad Eevening & glad morn crownd the fourth day.
    1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost
    Her conversation / More glad to me than to a miser money is.
    a. 1587, Philip Sidney, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia]
    Note

    Here gladness belongs to what is seen or heard, not to whoever feels it. Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) has 'Glad Eevning & glad Morn', days bright and cheering in themselves. In Philip Sidney's Arcadia the shepherd Lalus finds Kala's conversation more glad to him than money is to a miser. It stays closest to the 'shining' root behind the everyday 'pleased' sense. Now archaic, it survives in older verse and in set phrases such as glad tidings.

  2. 5
    fill with joyverbarchaictransitivenot before a noun
    To make someone feel glad; to fill a person with joy.
    God that glads the lover's heart
    1922, A. E. Housman, Epithalamium
    that which gladded all the warrior train
    1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”

    Similargladden, exhilarate

    Note

    Poets kept this verb alive long after it left everyday speech. Dryden writes of 'that which gladded all the warrior train', and Pope's Odyssey has 'the juice that glads the heart of man'. A. E. Housman still uses it in 1922: 'God that glads the lover's heart'. It always takes an object and inflects regularly: glads, gladding, gladded. Outside verse, gladden does the same work without the archaic ring.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Dryden wrote the quoted words in Palamon and Arcite. gutenberg.org
    • Pope's translation of the Odyssey contains the quoted words. gutenberg.org
    • A. E. Housman wrote the quoted line in Epithalamium. en.wikisource.org
    • The collection containing Housman's Epithalamium was first published in 1922. en.wikipedia.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of glad apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–2, 4–5

Probably going back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to shine', it came through Proto-Germanic *gladaz to Old English glæd ('shining; bright; cheerful; glad') and then Middle English glad. Its relatives include Dutch glad and German glatt ('smooth') and the Scandinavian glad ('happy').

Meaning 3

An abbreviation of gladiolus.

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 1 fact