Standard Lemma guide

glee

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • glē
  • /ɡliː/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -iː
  • CMU ARPABET: G L IY1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Joy; happiness; great delight, especially from one's own good fortune or from another's misfortune.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: merriment, mirth, gaiety, gloat, blitheness, blithesomeness, cheerfulness, cheeriness, contentness, contentedness, delight, delightedness, elatedness, elation, exuberance, exuberantness, felicity, gayness, gayfulness, gladness, gladsomeness, glee, gleefulness, gleesomeness, happiness, high spirits, hilarity, jolliness, jollity, joviality, jovialness, joy, joyfulness, joyousness, liss, merriness, mirthfulness, pleasedness

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

An unaccompanied part song for three or more solo voices, not necessarily merry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Qualifier: singing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To sing a glee (unaccompanied part song).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

great merriment

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hilarity, mirth, mirthfulness, gleefulness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: gaiety, merriment

6

noun

Meaning 6

malicious satisfaction

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gloat, gloating

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: satisfaction

History

Etymology

From Middle English gle, from Old English glēo, glīġ, glēow, glīw (“glee, pleasure, mirth, play, sport; music; mockery”), from Proto-West Germanic *glīw, from Proto-Germanic *glīwą (“joy, mirth”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghlew- (“to joke, make fun, enjoy”). Cognate with Scots gle, glie, glew (“game, play, sport, mirth, joy, rejoicing, entertainment, melody, music”), Icelandic glý (“joy, glee, gladness”), Ancient Greek χλεύη (khleúē, “joke, jest, scorn”). A poetic word in Middle English, the word was obsolete by 1500, but revived late 18c.

From Middle English gleen, glewen, from Old English glēowian (“to sing, play an instrument, jest”), from Proto-West Germanic *glīwōn, from Proto-Germanic *glīwōną. Cognate with Icelandic glýja (“to be gleeful”).

Across languages

Translations

55 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: بَهْجَة (bahja) — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Bulgarian: радост (radost) — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Bulgarian: веселие (veselie) — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Bulgarian: ликуване (likuvane) — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Catalan: alegria — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Catalan: joia — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Czech: radost — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Czech: veselí — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Czech: veselost — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Dutch: vrolijkheid — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Esperanto: ĝojo — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Finnish: ilo — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Finnish: riemu — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • French: joie — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Galician: gozo — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Galician: pracer — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Georgian: მხიარულება (mxiaruleba) — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Georgian: ზეიმი (zeimi) — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • German: Freude — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • German: Fröhlichkeit — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • German: Ausgelassenheit — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Greek: ευωχία (evochía) — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Italian: gioia — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Italian: allegria — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Norwegian: glede — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Persian: شادی — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Plautdietsch: Freid — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Polish: radość — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Polish: zadowolenie — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Portuguese: alegria — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Russian: ликова́ние (likovánije) — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Russian: весе́лье (vesélʹje) — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Russian: ра́дость (rádostʹ) — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Serbo-Croatian: veselje — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Serbo-Croatian: likovanje — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Spanish: alegría — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Swedish: glädje — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Swedish: fröjd — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Swedish: munterhet — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Tagalog: saya — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Tagalog: ligaya — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Tagalog: galak — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Tagalog: tuwa — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Thai: ความยินดี (kwaam-yin-dii) — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Thai: ความสะใจ — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Ukrainian: радість (radistʹ) — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • Ukrainian: веселощі (veselošči) — Joy; merriment; mirth; gayety; particularly, the mirth enjoyed at a feast
  • German: Rundgesang — Music; minstrelsy; entertainment
  • Portuguese: música — Music; minstrelsy; entertainment
  • Portuguese: canção — Music; minstrelsy; entertainment
  • Russian: му́зыка (múzyka) — Music; minstrelsy; entertainment
  • Russian: развлече́ния (razvlečénija) — Music; minstrelsy; entertainment
  • German: Rundgesang — An unaccompanied part song for three or more solo voices
  • Russian: пе́сня (pésnja) — An unaccompanied part song for three or more solo voices
  • Russian: песнопе́ние (pesnopénije) — An unaccompanied part song for three or more solo voices