glare
To stare at someone in an angry way; or that angry stare.
- The librarian glared at the giggling boys until they fell silent.
- If you take the last roast potato, Auntie June will glare at you across the table.
Similar: stare, scowl, frown
glare or scowl?
A glare is an angry stare at someone. A scowl is an angry face, whoever is looking.
Both words show that someone is cross, so children use them as though they mean the same thing. The difference is where the anger goes.
To glare is to stare hard and angrily at someone or something. The goalkeeper glares at the striker who has just scored against him. A glare is aimed, like a beam. That is also why bright sunlight can glare: it shines straight into your eyes.
To scowl is to pull an angry face, with the eyebrows drawn down and the mouth turned down. A boy can scowl at his maths homework, or scowl while he stomps upstairs with nobody watching. A scowl shows how someone feels; a glare is sending that feeling at a target.
Both words, side by side
scowl
To make an angry, cross face by pulling your eyebrows down; or that angry face itself.
- Instead of answering, Tom just scowled at me from across the classroom.
- The goalkeeper began to scowl, eyebrows pulled right down, after letting in such a soft goal.
Similar: frown, glare, sulk
Why it costs marks
In writing questions and in comprehension, 'glared at' tells you who the anger is aimed at, while 'scowled' mainly shows a character's mood. Spotting that difference helps a child explain what a character is thinking and who they are cross with.
Definitions and example sentences on this page are the ones a child sees inside Wordrealm, taken from our list of over 1,100 words. It is free to browse, with nothing to sign up for.
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test