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There's a glitch in the etymology of glitch—it may come from the Yiddish glitsh, meaning "slippery place," but that's not certain. Print use of glitch referring to a brief unexpected surge of electrical current dates to the mid-20th century. Astronaut John Glenn, in his 1962 book Into Orbit, felt the need to explain the term to his readers: "Literally, a glitch is a spike or change in voltage in an electrical circuit which takes place when the circuit suddenly has a new load put on it." Today, the word can be used of any minor malfunction or snag. If you’re a gamer you might even take advantage of a glitch that causes something unexpected, and sometimes beneficial, to happen in the game.
Examples of glitch in a Sentence
Georgia Nicols, The Denver Post, 9 Nov. 2024
The misclassification of voters from federal-only to full-ballot voters was blamed on a glitch in state databases involving drivers' licenses and the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 2 Nov. 2024
The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office will launch an internal investigation into the glitch.
—Maritza Dominguez, The Arizona Republic, 30 Oct. 2024
While JPMorgan has not said how many people, or how much money, was impacted by the viral trend, the Wall Street Journal reports there may have been thousands of potential instances of check fraud due to the glitch.
—Addy Bink, The Hill, 29 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for glitch 
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Cite this Entry
“Glitch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glitch. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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glitch
noun
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