gilded

adjective

gild·​ed ˈgil-dəd 

1

: covered or tinged with gold or a golden color

gilded icons

The reception room, just off the entryway, features colorful wall and ceiling decorations and a gilded overmantel mirror and matching cornices.

—Stephen May

2

: having a background of wealth and luxury : prosperous, luxurious

Emily Post was raised among New York's gilded elite.

—Susan Berfield

… despite the upper-crust background and the gilded résumé, Bonham Carter is a pretty modern chick off stage.

—Elizabeth Gleick

Examples of gilded in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

How does competitive inequality fit into the current tech world, or indeed the gilded halls of the Whitney and the Serpentine? —Oskar Oprey, Artforum, 28 Jan. 2025

Boycotts and bad mouthing are almost as synonymous with the Grammys as the gilded awards themselves. —Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 26 Jan. 2025

Before and during performances, dancers warm up in the foyer de la danse, a gilded room with dripping chandeliers at the back of the stage, where season ticket holders would court ballerinas a century ago. —Elliott Verdier, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025

There are no gilded gates here, but there is one heck of a party, complete with serenading busts, ballroom dancers, excitable opera singers, drunken buffoonery and portraits locked in an endless duel. —Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of gild entry 1

First Known Use

1540, in the meaning defined at sense 1