Glade
noun /ɡleɪd/ — An open clearing in a forest
Definition
An open space within a forest — a clearing where light reaches the ground, where the canopy gives way and the world opens briefly.
Beyond the definition
The clearing that feels like a gift. In a forest, a glade is the sudden possibility of sky — a pause in the enclosure, a held breath of light.
Origin & history
Of uncertain origin — possibly from Middle English 'glad' (bright, shining). The glade is the bright place in the dark wood.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
They stumbled into a glade at midday and stayed far longer than they'd planned.
A forest without a glade is just dense — the clearing makes you understand what surrounds it.
She thought of childhood as a glade: a space of light surrounded by a forest that was getting closer.
Synonyms
clearing, opening, dell, meadow, break
Antonyms
thicket, dense forest
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Clearing in a Vibrant Forest
A dense woodland scene where sunlight filters through a canopy onto a forest floor covered in diverse plants and mosses.
A glade is an open space or clearing in a forest. The image of sunlight filtering through the dense canopy to illuminate a specific, diverse patch of the forest floor provides a visual analogy for a glade, where the canopy breaks, and the forest opens to allow growth to thrive.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration