glimmer

[glim-er] /ˈglɪm ər/
noun
1.
a faint or unsteady light; gleam.
2.
a dim perception; inkling.
verb (used without object)
3.
to shine faintly or unsteadily; twinkle, shimmer, or flicker.
4.
to appear faintly or dimly.
Origin
1300-50; Middle English glimeren to gleam; cognate with German glimmern; compare Old English gleomu splendor
Synonyms
1. See gleam.
Examples from the web for glimmer
  • The sparkle of a lover's secret or the glimmer of a promise kept.
  • But those who discern an opening for a more hopeful future, even a glimmer of outright resolution, have always been proved wrong.
  • Most of the life on this planet gets by without even a glimmer of it.
  • To even get a glimmer of the mirror effect in life is beyond normal comprehension.
  • Low-budget horror films occasionally show the faintest glimmer of talent and are praised out of all proportion to their merits.
  • The last glimmer of sun embraces her as storm clouds roll in.
  • Forever looking for a glimmer of difference that can be interpreted as bias.
  • The glimmer of utility on the horizon are things called quantum dots.
  • And yet, despite setbacks and constant self-vigilance, both could finally begin to see the glimmer of another possibility.
  • Let's try to envisage a glimmer of light somewhere on the horizon.
British Dictionary definitions for glimmer

glimmer

/ˈɡlɪmə/
verb (intransitive)
1.
(of a light, candle, etc) to glow faintly or flickeringly
2.
to be indicated faintly: hope glimmered in his face
noun
3.
a glow or twinkle of light
4.
a faint indication
Derived Forms
glimmeringly, adverb
Word Origin
C14: compare Middle High German glimmern, Swedish glimra, Danish glimre
Word Origin and History for glimmer
v.

early 14c., "shine brightly," a frequentative from Proto-Germanic *glim-, root of Old English glæm "brightness" (see gleam (n.)). Sense shifted 15c. to "shine faintly." Cf. Dutch glimmeren, German glimmeren "to shine dimly." Related: Glimmered; glimmering.

n.

1580s, from glimmer (v.).