Meanings
gladden1
present singular third person gladdens · participle present gladdening · participle past gladdened · past gladdened
- transitiveTo cause (something) to become more glad.
A balmy night! and tho' the stars be dim, / Yet let us think upon the vernal showers / That gladden the green earth, and we shall find / A pleasure in the dimness of the stars.
1798, William Wordsworth, The Nightingale1 more example
Her body was bent by age; her limbs trembled with palsy; her face, distorted into a mumbling leer, resembled more the grotesque shaping of some wild pencil, than the work of Nature's hand. Alas! How few of Nature's faces are left alone to gladden us with their beauty!
1838, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
Gladden2
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Ancient Greek εὐφραίνω
- εὐφραίνω (euphraínō)to cause to become more glad
Bulgarian радвам, развеселявам
- радвам (radvam)to cause to become more glad
- развеселявам (razveseljavam)to cause to become more glad
Chinese Mandarin 使高興 /使高兴, 使喜悅 /使喜悦
- 使高興 /使高兴 (shǐ gāoxìng)to cause to become more glad
- 使喜悅 /使喜悦to cause to become more glad
- 使喜悦 (shǐ xǐyuè)to cause to become more glad
Dutch blij maken, verheugen
- blij makento cause to become more glad
- verheugento cause to become more glad
Finnish ilahduttaa
- ilahduttaato cause to become more glad
French réjouir
- réjouirto cause to become more glad
German freuen, erfreuen
- freuento cause to become more glad
- erfreuento cause to become more glad
Icelandic gleðja
- gleðjato cause to become more glad
Italian rallegrare, allietare
- rallegrareto cause to become more glad
- allietareto cause to become more glad
Japanese 喜ばせる, 楽しませる
- 喜ばせる (yorokobaseru)to cause to become more glad
- 楽しませる (tanoshimaseru)to cause to become more glad
Latin hilarō, laetificō
- hilarōto cause to become more glad
- laetificōto cause to become more glad
Māori whakahari
- whakaharito cause to become more glad
Polish radować, uradować
- radowaćto cause to become more glad
- uradowaćto cause to become more glad
- rozradowaćto cause to become more glad
Romanian bucura, îmbucura
- bucurato cause to become more glad
- îmbucurato cause to become more glad
Russian ра́довать, обра́довать
- ра́довать (rádovatʹ)to cause to become more glad
- обра́довать (obrádovatʹ)to cause to become more glad
- весели́ть (veselítʹ)to cause to become more glad
- развесели́ть (razveselítʹ)to cause to become more glad
Spanish alborozar, alegrar
- alborozarto cause to become more glad
- alegrarto cause to become more glad
- contentarto cause to become more glad
Swedish glädja
- glädjato cause to become more glad
Tagalog magpasaya, magpaligaya
- magpasayato cause to become more glad
- magpaligayato cause to become more glad
Ukrainian ра́дувати, пора́дувати
- ра́дувати (ráduvaty)to cause to become more glad
- пора́дувати (poráduvaty)to cause to become more glad
- ті́шити (tíšyty)to cause to become more glad
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with gladden
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Cite this entry
gladden. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gladden
“gladden.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gladden. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gladden,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gladden.
Source: gladden on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.