Synonyms

gloating

American

[gloh-ting] / ˈgloʊ tɪŋ /

noun

the act of looking at or speaking or thinking about something with excessive, usually smug or malicious satisfaction.

For all our gloating about how progressive we are on issues of race and sexual orientation, we lag behind on some other human rights issues.

adjective

looking at or speaking or thinking about something in this way.

Asked about the protester's arrest, the mayor said with a gloating smile, "I wish him luck.”

Other Word Forms

gloatingly adverb
ungloating adjective

Etymology

Origin of gloating

First recorded in 1575–85; gloat ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun; gloat ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I won’t join in the gloating of some critics at the hundreds who have lost their jobs.

From The Wall Street Journal

Bringing it home is Sudeikis’ manner as he shares Ted’s folksy anecdote: it contains not a whit of vanity or gloating at his adversary’s downfall.

From Salon

The kind of gloating you do when you win and you’re glad, but you’re trying not to be too much of a jerk about it.

From Literature

They spent the first quarter hour of their walk gloating.

From Literature

The BBC learned earlier this week that the hackers sent an abuse-filled email directly to M&S's boss on 23 April, gloating about what they had done and demanding payment.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023