Definition

1. Verb:

   • To look angry or sullen: To stare with a facial expression showing anger, displeasure, or deep resentment, often involving a furrowed brow or a dark, brooding look.
   • To look at with a fixed, intense gaze: To stare in a steady, piercing, and often hostile manner.

2. Noun:

   • An angry stare: A look characterized by anger, sullenness, or intense disapproval.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • He did not speak but merely glowered from across the room, making everyone uncomfortable.
  • The teacher glowered at the students who were talking during the exam.
• Noun:
  • She met his furious glower with a calm smile.
  • His face was fixed in a menacing glower.

Advanced Usage

• "to glower at": This is the most common construction, indicating the target of the angry stare.
  • The old man glowered at the noisy children playing near his fence.
• "to glower down at": Used when the person glowering is physically looking down on someone, often emphasizing dominance or contempt.
  • The tall guard glowered down at the trespasser.

Variants and Related Words

• Glowering (adj): Having a sullenly angry or brooding appearance.
  • He sat in the corner with a glowering expression.
• Gloweringly (adv): In a glowering manner.
  • She stared gloweringly at the broken vase.

Synonyms

• Glare: To stare fiercely or angrily. (Often used interchangeably with "glower," though "glare" can imply a sharper, more piercing look, sometimes associated with light.)
• Scowl: To frown in an angry or bad-tempered way. (Focuses more on the furrowed brow and facial muscles.)
• Glower often carries a stronger connotation of sustained, brooding, or smoldering anger compared to a quick glare.

Phrasal Verbs / Common Constructions

• As a verb, "glower" is almost always used with a preposition like "at" or "down at." It does not commonly form phrasal verbs.

Related Idioms

• While there is no common idiom with the exact word "glower," the action is central to expressions like "to look daggers at someone," which means to look at someone with extreme anger or hatred.
  • When he took the last piece of cake, she looked daggers at him. (This is a more intense and metaphorical equivalent to a fierce glower.)

Noun

1. an angry stare

Verb

1. look angry or sullen, wrinkle one's forehead, as if to signal disapproval
2. look at with a fixed gaze
   • The girl glared at the man who tried to make a pass at her