glossy

English

Etymology

gloss +‎ -y

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlɒsi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlɔsi/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlɑsi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒsi, -ɔːsi

Adjective

glossy (comparative glossier, superlative glossiest)

1. Having a smooth, silk-like, reflective (shiny) surface.

   glossy hair

   glossy magazine

Antonyms

• flat
• matte

Derived terms

• glossy antshrike
• glossy ibis

Translations

having a reflective surface

• Armenian: ողորկ (hy) (ołork)
• Bashkir: ялтыр (yaltır)
• Bulgarian: лъскав (bg) (lǎskav), полиран (bg) (poliran)
• Cebuano: sinawon
• Catalan: llustrós, brillant (ca), lluent (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 光澤／光泽 (zh) (guāngzé)

• Czech: lesklý (cs) m
• Dutch: glanzend (nl)
• Finnish: kiiltävä (fi), kiilto-
• French: luisant (fr), brillant (fr)
• German: glänzend (de)
• Irish: lonrach
• Italian: lucido (it), patinato (it) m, luccicante (it) m
• Japanese: 艶やか (あでやか, adeyaka, つややか, tsuyayaka)
• Khmer: រលើប (km) (rɔləəp)
• Latin: lucens (la) m or f
• Maori: whakahinuhinu
• Norwegian: glanset
• Polish: lśniący (pl) m, błyszczący (pl) m
• Portuguese: lustroso (pt)
• Russian: гля́нцевый (ru) (gljáncevyj), блестя́щий (ru) (blestjáščij)
• Scottish Gaelic: gleansach
• Spanish: brillante (es), lustroso (es), reluciente (es)
• Swedish: glansig (sv), glänsande (sv), blank (sv), blankpolerad
• Thai: มัน (th) (man), เงา (th) (ngao)
• Turkish: parlak (tr)

Noun

glossy (plural glossies)

1. (chiefly Britain, informal) A glossy magazine.

   The supermarket glossies are full of celebrity gossip and fad diets.

2. (informal) A glossy photograph.
   • 1998 August 17, Adam Gopnik, “Man Goes To See a Doctor”, in The New Yorker‎^[1]:

     His roster of patients was drawn almost exclusively from among what he liked to call creative people, chiefly writers and painters and composers, and he talked about them so freely that I sometimes half expected him to put up autographed glossies around the office, like the ones on the wall at the Stage Deli.

   • 2013, Stacy Zemon, The DJ Sales and Marketing Handbook:

     Black and white 8- × 10-inch glossies are best, but 5- × 7-inch is okay too. Place photos on top of cardboard when mailing. Don't tape or paper-clip because doing so can ruin the photo.

3. (film, informal) A film depicting people with glamorous lifestyles.
   • 1959, Film Review, page 102:

     Anna Magnani has been making Hollywood glossies recently, so it was good to see her back again in a native Italian production, The Last Temptation, in which with great artistry and all her usual power she played a Nun who finds a woman's and even a mother's heart beating strongly beneath her 'sister's' habit.

   • 1973, Films and Filming, volume 20, page 10:

     […] the first home-made guide to TV films by which is meant old films shown on the box, not those new Hollywood glossies made specially for it (though a guide there too would soon be welcome).