Dictionary
glamour
noun glam·our \ˈgla-mər\
: a very exciting and attractive quality
Full Definition of GLAMOUR
1
: a magic spell <the girls appeared to be under a glamour — Llewelyn Powys>
2
: an exciting and often illusory and romantic attractiveness <the glamour of Hollywood>; especially : alluring or fascinating attraction —often used attributively <glamour stock> <glamour girls> <whooping cranes and … other glamour birds — R. T. Peterson>
— glamour transitive verb
— glam·our·less \-ləs\ adjective
See glamour defined for English-language learners
See glamour defined for kids
Variants of GLAMOUR
glam·our also glam·or \ˈgla-mər\
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Origin of GLAMOUR
Scots glamour, alteration of English grammar; from the popular association of erudition with occult practices
First Known Use: 1715
Related to GLAMOUR
- Synonyms
- abracadabra, bewitchment, charm, conjuration, enchantment, spell (also glamor), hex, incantation, invocation, whammy
- Antonyms
- repulsion, repulsiveness
GLAMOUR Defined for Kids
glamour
noun glam·our \ˈgla-mər\
Definition of GLAMOUR for Kids
: romantic, exciting, and often misleading attractiveness
Word History of GLAMOUR
In the Middle Ages words like Latin grammatica and Middle English gramer, “grammar,” meant not only the study of language and literature, but all sorts of learning. Since almost all learning was expressed in Latin, which most people did not understand, it was commonly believed that subjects such as magic and astrology were also part of “grammar.” People became suspicious of students of “grammar,” who were thought to practice the dark arts. In Scotland in the 1700s the word glamer or glamour, an altered form of grammar, meant “a magic spell.” As glamour passed into more general English, it lost this sense and just came to mean “a mysterious attractiveness.”
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