gloat
to feel good about one's own luck or someone else's misfortune
TRANSLATION
gloat = sich hämisch freuen, sich mit etwas großtun oder brüsten, sich an jmds. Unglück weiden ---GOOGLE INDEX gloat: approximately 1,500,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison did not miss the chance to GLOAT over the predictions he made four years ago at the last Telecom show.
(CNN)
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Once upon a time there was a miser who used to hide his gold at the foot of a tree in his garden; but every week he used to go and dig it up and GLOAT over his gains.
(Aesop's Fables, The Miser and His Gold)
(CNN)
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Once upon a time there was a miser who used to hide his gold at the foot of a tree in his garden; but every week he used to go and dig it up and GLOAT over his gains.
(Aesop's Fables, The Miser and His Gold)
Did you
know?
gloat
verb
- to feel or express great pleasure or satisfaction because of your own success or good luck, or someone else's failure or bad luck
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
noun
- the act of gloating
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WORD ORIGIN
Gloat (1575) stems from the Old Norse glotta, to smile scornfully, or from the Middle High German glotzen, to stare. The sense of looking at something or someone with hateful satisfaction was first recorded 1748.
As the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary points out, one can gloat about one's own success or someone else's failure. Or both at the same time, such as in politics or sports where competition is intense. Jamaican track and field athlete Usain Bolt was criticised for gloating after winning the 100-metre dash in world record time at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Boxing great Muhammad Ali was famous for gloating after knocking his opponents down. Gloating can sometimes come back to haunt you however.
In a legendary 1927 heavyweight boxing match in the U.S., Gene Tunney met Jack Dempsey in the ring to defend his title. Dempsey pounded Tunney (the man who had taken his title away) to the floor in the seventh round and stood over him to gloat. Referee Dave Barry, enforcing a brand-new rule, ordered Dempsey to his corner several times and took an estimated 17 seconds to reach the count of nine. This gave Tunney enough time to regain his senses and get back on his feet. Tunney then proceeded to knock Dempsey down in the next round and eventually win the fight on points, proving that gloating does not always pay off.
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SYNONYMS
boast, brag, crow, exult, jubilate, strut, swagger
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"To gloat about one's success is not the best way to win friends."
verb
- to feel or express great pleasure or satisfaction because of your own success or good luck, or someone else's failure or bad luck
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
noun
- the act of gloating
---
WORD ORIGIN
Gloat (1575) stems from the Old Norse glotta, to smile scornfully, or from the Middle High German glotzen, to stare. The sense of looking at something or someone with hateful satisfaction was first recorded 1748.
As the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary points out, one can gloat about one's own success or someone else's failure. Or both at the same time, such as in politics or sports where competition is intense. Jamaican track and field athlete Usain Bolt was criticised for gloating after winning the 100-metre dash in world record time at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Boxing great Muhammad Ali was famous for gloating after knocking his opponents down. Gloating can sometimes come back to haunt you however.
In a legendary 1927 heavyweight boxing match in the U.S., Gene Tunney met Jack Dempsey in the ring to defend his title. Dempsey pounded Tunney (the man who had taken his title away) to the floor in the seventh round and stood over him to gloat. Referee Dave Barry, enforcing a brand-new rule, ordered Dempsey to his corner several times and took an estimated 17 seconds to reach the count of nine. This gave Tunney enough time to regain his senses and get back on his feet. Tunney then proceeded to knock Dempsey down in the next round and eventually win the fight on points, proving that gloating does not always pay off.
---
SYNONYMS
boast, brag, crow, exult, jubilate, strut, swagger
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"To gloat about one's success is not the best way to win friends."
