Basic Details
Word: Glorious
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Deserving great praise and honour, or very beautiful and wonderful.
Synonyms: magnificent, splendid, wonderful, triumphant
Antonyms: shameful, dull, ignominious
How to Spell Glorious
Syllables: glo - ri - ous
Tricky part: Glory changes its y to i before -ous. Students often leave the y in (gloryous) or drop the o of ous.
Watch out for: gloryous, glorius, glorous
Memory tip: Glory swaps y for i when ous arrives, just as victory becomes victorious and fury becomes furious.
Usage Examples
Example 1: It was a glorious morning, clear and cool after the rain.
Example 2: The museum tells the glorious story of the Chola navy.
Example 3: Our team had a glorious run in the state championship.
Fun Fact
The Latin gloria, meaning fame or praise, also gives English the verb glorify and the name Gloria.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of 'glorious' as it is used in the sentence:
The team returned home after a glorious victory in the national finals.
a) shameful
b) splendid
c) famous
d) historic
Show answer
a) shameful. A splendid victory is a glorious one; a shameful result brings dishonour.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
We woke early to watch a glorius sunrise over the snowy peaks from the balcony of our small guest house in Darjeeling.
a) balcony
b) guest
c) glorius
d) sunrise
Show answer
c) glorius. The ending is -ous, so an o must sit before the u.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word:
1. glorious 2. honerable 3. prestigous 4. coragious
a) very brave
b) honest and deserving respect
c) deserving great praise; magnificent
d) admired and respected for high quality
Show answer
c) deserving great praise; magnificent. Courageous keeps the ou and the e of courage, prestigious has an i after the g, and honourable has -our- in it.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. 'Glorious weather' most likely means ____.
a) a dusty storm all afternoon
b) a thick grey fog all day
c) bright sun and a cool breeze
d) freezing sleet and slush
Show answer
c) bright sun and a cool breeze
2. In 'a glorious chapter in the history of the Indian Army', glorious means ____.
a) short and easily forgotten
b) deserving great honour
c) full of sad mistakes
d) dull and ordinary
Show answer
b) deserving great honour
