English

Verb

gladden ‎(third-person singular simple present gladdens, present participle gladdening, simple past and past participle gladdened)

1. (transitive) To cause (something) to become more glad.
   • 1798, William Wordsworth, The Nightingale:

     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.

   • 1838, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist:

     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!

2. (intransitive, archaic) To become more glad in one's disposition.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, volume II, book XX, Ch.I

     In May when every lusty heart flourisheth and bourgeoneth, for as the season is lusty to behold and comfortable, so man and woman rejoice and gladden of summer coming with his fresh flowers: for winter with his rough winds and blasts causeth a lusty man and woman to cower and sit fast by the fire.

Conjugation

Synonyms

• cheer, cheer up, gratify, please

Translations

Anagrams

• dangled