GILDED

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does gilded mean? 

• GILDED (adjective)
  The adjective GILDED has 4 senses:

1. having the deep slightly brownish color of gold

2. based on pretense; deceptively pleasing

3. ostentatiously rich and superior in quality

4. made from or covered with gold

  Familiarity information: GILDED used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GILDED (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having the deep slightly brownish color of gold

Synonyms:

aureate; gilded; gilt; gold; golden

Context example:

a gold carpet

Similar:

chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Based on pretense; deceptively pleasing

Synonyms:

gilded; glossy; meretricious; specious

Context example:

a meretricious argument

Similar:

insincere (lacking sincerity)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Ostentatiously rich and superior in quality

Synonyms:

deluxe; gilded; grand; lush; luxurious; opulent; princely; sumptuous

Context example:

these architecture magazines are full of the lush interiors of the rich and famous

Similar:

rich (suggestive of or characterized by great expense)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Made from or covered with gold

Synonyms:

gilded; gold; golden

Context example:

gilded icons

Similar:

metal; metallic (containing or made of or resembling or characteristic of a metal)

 Context examples 

And dropping a small, gilded bottle at the witch's feet, the spirit vanished.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He drew it quickly out again, but saw that it was quite gilded, and whatsoever pains he took to wash the gold off again, all was to no purpose.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Again we passed the strange rooms, the gilded monsters, and the gorgeous footmen, and it was with relief that I found myself out in the open air once more, with the broad blue sea in front of us, and the fresh evening breeze upon our faces.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past was blotted from my memory, the present was tranquil, and the future gilded by bright rays of hope and anticipations of joy.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Roasted peacocks, with the feathers all carefully replaced, so that the bird lay upon the dish even as it had strutted in life, boars' heads with the tusks gilded and the mouth lined with silver foil, jellies in the shape of the Twelve Apostles, and a great pasty which formed an exact model of the king's new castle at Windsor—these were a few of the strange dishes which faced him.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He took it quickly out, but it was already quite gilded.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

But much as she liked to write for children, Jo could not consent to depict all her naughty boys as being eaten by bears or tossed by mad bulls because they did not go to a particular Sabbath school, nor all the good infants who did go as rewarded by every kind of bliss, from gilded gingerbread to escorts of angels when they departed this life with psalms or sermons on their lisping tongues.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)