gilded
verb
Form of gild , past tense of gild.
Simple meaning
To cover with a thin layer of gold.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
gildidSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡɪldɪd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
past tense of gild
To cover with a thin layer of gold; to cover with gold leaf.
past tense of gild
To give a bright or pleasing aspect to.
past tense of gild
To give a brilliant colour or flush to one's face; (also) to make appear drunk.
past tense of gild
To adorn.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To cover with a thin layer of gold; to cover with gold leaf.
Used this way, gilded is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Southwestern United States bird like the yellow-shafted flicker but lacking the red neck.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A brass that is rich in copper.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “gilded” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.
