diff --git a/glossy/src/gloss.typ b/glossy/src/gloss.typ
index e7b4f4c..ec7ee3e 100644
--- a/glossy/src/gloss.typ
+++ b/glossy/src/gloss.typ
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 // Returns:
 //   dictionary: Normalized dictionary with all expected keys populated
 //
-// Throws:
+// Panics:
 //   - If 'short' key is missing when using normal (non-abbreviated) syntax
 //   - If 'short' value is not a string
 //   - If 'short' value is an empty string
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@
 // Returns:
 //   dictionary: The glossary entry associated with the key
 //
-// Throws:
+// Panics:
 //   - If the key does not exist in the glossary
 //
 #let __get_entry(key) = {
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@
 //   content: The fully formatted term, including optional article, capitalization,
 //            usage tracking metadata, and the chosen form (short, long, or both).
 //
-#let __gls(key, modifiers: array, show-term: function, term-links: true) = {
+#let __gls(key, modifiers: array, format-term: function, show-term: function, term-links: true) = {
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   // Check for illegal modifier combinations
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -248,27 +248,6 @@
     }
   }
 
-  // get_term(mode): Returns the appropriate term string based on the mode.
-  // mode is one of "short", "long", or "both".
-  //   - "short": Returns the short form.
-  //   - "long": Returns the long form.
-  //   - "both": Returns "Long form (short form)".
-  // We rely on prior logic to ensure that when mode = "both" or "long", a long form is available.
-  let get_term = (mode) => {
-    let short_form = pluralize_term(entry.short, entry.plural)
-    let long_form = pluralize_term(entry.long, entry.longplural) // none safe here
-    if mode == "short" {
-      // Just the short form.
-      short_form
-    } else if mode == "long" {
-      // Just the long form.
-      long_form
-    } else {
-      // mode == "both": "Long form (short form)".
-      long_form + " (" + short_form + ")"
-    }
-  }
-
   // get_article(mode): Returns the appropriate article string based on the mode.
   //   - If wants_article is false, returns an empty string.
   //   - If mode is "short", return the short article.
@@ -337,19 +316,33 @@
   // Determine mode using the helper function
   let mode = determine_mode(wants_both, wants_long, wants_short, is_first_use, long_available)
 
-  // Get the article and term for the chosen mode, then apply capitalization if requested
-  let (article, term) = capitalize_term(get_article(mode), get_term(mode))
+  // Pluralize (if requested)
+  let short-form = pluralize_term(entry.short, entry.plural)
+  let long-form = pluralize_term(entry.long, entry.longplural) // `none` safe here
+
+  // Apply format-term() to get the term
+  let formatted-term = format-term(mode, short-form, long-form)
+  if type(formatted-term) != "string" {
+    // This is because we still need to capitalize the term, and we cannot do
+    // that with content, thus requiring a string here.
+    // TODO: consider if we want to capitalize *before* this. First intuition is
+    // "no".
+    panic("Your cutsom format-term() function must return a string.")
+  }
+
+  // Get the article, then capitalize either the article or term (if requested)
+  let (article, term) = capitalize_term(get_article(mode), formatted-term)
 
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   // Construct and return the final output
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   context {
-    let text = if term-links and __has_glossary_entry(key) {
+    let linked-term = if term-links and __has_glossary_entry(key) {
       link(label(key), term)
     } else {
       term
     }
-    [#article#show-term(text)#metadata(term)#__term_label(key)]
+    [#article#show-term(linked-term)#metadata(term)#__term_label(key)]
   // |^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^      |^^^^^^^^      |^^^^^^^^^^^^
   // \_art.  |               |              |
   //         \_ apply user formatting function to the term
@@ -387,6 +380,47 @@
     .join(", ")
 }
 
+// Formats a term string based on the specified mode.
+//
+// Given mode, long-form, and short-form, this function returns the formatted
+// term based on the mode. When mode is ...
+//
+// - "short" -> returns "short-form"
+// - "long" -> returns "long-form"
+// - "both" -> returns "short-form (long-form)"
+//
+// Parameters:
+//   mode (string): The mode in which to format the term. Possible values are "short", "long", or "both".
+//   short-form (string): The short form of the term.
+//   long-form (string): The long form of the term.
+//
+// Returns:
+//   string: The formatted term based on the specified mode.
+//
+#let __default-format-term(mode, short-form, long-form) = {
+    if mode == "short" {
+      short-form
+    } else if mode == "long" {
+      long-form
+    } else {
+      // mode assumed to be "both"
+      long-form + " (" + short-form + ")"
+    }
+}
+
+// Styles a term to control its display in a document.
+//
+// Parameters:
+//   term-body (content'ish): the unstyled output from __gls()
+//
+// Returns:
+//   content: display ready content (assumed based on `term-body`)
+//
+#let __default-show-term(term-body) = {
+  // Default: just render it like normal text
+  term-body
+}
+
 // Initializes the glossary system and sets up term reference handling.
 //
 // This function is typically used with `#show: init-glossary`. It performs
@@ -407,12 +441,13 @@
 // Returns:
 //   content: Processed document content with glossary functionality enabled
 //
-// Throws:
+// Panics:
 //   - If entries parameter is not a dictionary
 //
 #let init-glossary(
   entries,
-  show-term: (term-body) => term-body,
+  format-term: __default-format-term,
+  show-term: __default-show-term,
   term-links: true,
   body
 ) = context {
@@ -423,6 +458,7 @@
     let checked-entry = z.parse(entry, dict-schema, scope: ("dictionary entry",))
     checked-entries.insert(checked-key, checked-entry)
   }
+  let checked-format-term = z.parse(show-term, z.function(), scope: ("format-term",))
   let checked-show-term = z.parse(show-term, z.function(), scope: ("show-term",))
   let checked-body = z.parse(body, z.content(), scope: ("body",))
 
@@ -457,7 +493,7 @@
     // Now see if this is an actual glossary term key
     if __has_entry(key) {
       // Found in dictionary, render via __gls()
-      __gls(key, modifiers: modifiers.map(lower), show-term: show-term, term-links: term-links)
+      __gls(key, modifiers: modifiers.map(lower), format-term: format-term, show-term: show-term, term-links: term-links)
     } else {
       // Not one of ours, so just pass it through
       r
@@ -499,7 +535,7 @@
 // Returns:
 //   content: Formatted glossary content
 //
-// Throws:
+// Panics:
 //   - If a requested group doesn't exist
 //
 #let glossary(
diff --git a/glossy/tests/format-term/ref/1.png b/glossy/tests/format-term/ref/1.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e2e0db
Binary files /dev/null and b/glossy/tests/format-term/ref/1.png differ
diff --git a/glossy/tests/format-term/test.typ b/glossy/tests/format-term/test.typ
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c38ed49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/glossy/tests/format-term/test.typ
@@ -0,0 +1,208 @@
+#import "/lib.typ": *
+
+#let myGlossary = (
+  html: (
+    short: "HTML",
+    long: "Hypertext Markup Language",
+    description: "A standard language for creating web pages",
+    group: "Web"),
+  css: (
+    short: "CSS",
+    long: "Cascading Style Sheets",
+    description: "A language used for describing the presentation of a document",
+    group: "Web"),
+  tps: (
+    short: "TPS",
+    long: "test procedure specification",
+    description: "A document on how to run all the test procedures"),
+  concise: "Concise syntax!",
+  shortonly: (
+    short: "shortonly!!!"),
+  unused: "Unused term, which shouldn't print in the glossary."
+)
+
+#set page(width: 6.5in, height: auto, margin: 1em)
+
+#let test-content = {
+  table(
+    columns: 3,
+    table.header(
+      [`short`], [`long`], [`both`],
+    ),
+
+    [@html:short],      [@html:long],      [@html:both],
+    [@css:short],       [@css:long],       [@css:both],
+    [@tps:short],       [@tps:long],       [@tps:both],
+    [@concise:short],   [@concise:long],   [@concise:both],
+    [@shortonly:short], [@shortonly:long], [@shortonly:both],
+
+    table.hline(stroke: 2pt),
+
+    [@html:short:cap],        [@html:long:cap],        [@html:both:cap],
+    [@a:css:short],           [@a:css:long],           [@a:css:both],
+    [@tps:short:pl],          [@tps:long:pl],          [@tps:both:pl],
+    [@concise:a:cap:short],   [@concise:a:cap:long],   [@concise:a:cap:both],
+    [@an:shortonly:short],    [@an:shortonly:long],    [@an:shortonly:both],
+  )
+
+  [@a:tps:cap is @tps:def.]
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+#let format-basic(mode, short-form, long-form) = {
+  if mode == "short" {
+    short-form
+  } else if mode == "long" {
+  long-form
+  } else {
+    long-form + " (" + short-form + ")"
+  }
+}
+
+#init-glossary(myGlossary, format-term: format-basic)[#test-content]
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+#let format-reverse(mode, short-form, long-form) = {
+  if mode == "short" {
+    short-form
+  } else if mode == "long" {
+    long-form
+  } else {
+    short-form + " [" + long-form + "]"
+  }
+}
+
+#init-glossary(myGlossary, format-term: format-reverse)[#test-content]
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+#let format-uppercase-short(mode, short-form, long-form) = {
+  let short-up = upper(short-form);
+  if mode == "short" {
+    short-up
+  } else if mode == "long" {
+    long-form
+  } else {
+    long-form + " (" + short-up + ")"
+  }
+}
+
+#init-glossary(myGlossary, format-term: format-uppercase-short)[#test-content]
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+#let format-prefix-suffix(mode, short-form, long-form) = {
+  if mode == "short" {
+    "Term: " + short-form + "."
+  } else if mode == "long" {
+    "Term: " + long-form + "."
+  } else {
+    "Term: " + long-form + " (" + short-form + ")."
+  }
+}
+
+#init-glossary(myGlossary, format-term: format-prefix-suffix)[#test-content]
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+#let format-conditional-separator(mode, short-form, long-form) = {
+  let separator = if short-form.len() > 4 { " / " } else { ", " };
+  let has_long = long-form != none and long-form != "";
+
+  if mode == "short" {
+    short-form
+  } else if mode == "long" {
+    if has_long { long-form } else { short-form }
+  } else {
+    if has_long {
+      long-form + separator + short-form
+    } else {
+      short-form
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+#init-glossary(myGlossary, format-term: format-conditional-separator)[#test-content]
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// 1. Braces and Labels
+// Idea: Use different bracket styles and labels based on the mode.
+#let format-braces(mode, short-form, long-form) = {
+  if mode == "short" {
+    "{" + short-form + "}"
+  } else if mode == "long" {
+    "[" + long-form + "]"
+  } else {
+    long-form + " <" + short-form + ">"
+  }
+}
+
+#init-glossary(myGlossary, format-term: format-braces)[#test-content]
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// 2. Mode-Based Prefix
+// Idea: Add a prefix indicating the mode, and then show the term(s).
+#let format-mode-prefix(mode, short-form, long-form) = {
+  let prefix = if mode == "short" { "S:" } else if mode == "long" { "L:" } else { "B:" };
+  if mode == "short" {
+    prefix + short-form
+  } else if mode == "long" {
+    prefix + long-form
+  } else {
+    prefix + long-form + " & " + short-form
+  }
+}
+
+#init-glossary(myGlossary, format-term: format-mode-prefix)[#test-content]
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// 3. Conditional Fallback for Missing Long
+// Idea: If no long-form is provided, use the short-form in all cases.
+#let format-fallback-long(mode, short-form, long-form) = {
+  let has_long = long-form != none and long-form != "";
+  if mode == "short" {
+    short-form
+  } else if mode == "long" {
+    if has_long { long-form } else { short-form }
+  } else {
+    if has_long { long-form + " (" + short-form + ")" } else { short-form }
+  }
+}
+
+#init-glossary(myGlossary, format-term: format-fallback-long)[#test-content]
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// 4. Uppercase Both Terms in Both Mode
+// Idea: Always uppercase for both mode, normal otherwise.
+#let format-uppercase-both(mode, short-form, long-form) = {
+  if mode == "short" {
+    short-form
+  } else if mode == "long" {
+    long-form
+  } else {
+    upper(long-form) + " (" + upper(short-form) + ")"
+  }
+}
+
+#init-glossary(myGlossary, format-term: format-uppercase-both)[#test-content]
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// 5. Append Length Info
+// Idea: In both mode, append the length of each string.
+#let format-length-info(mode, short-form, long-form) = {
+  let s_len = str(short-form.len())
+  let l_len = if long-form != none and long-form != "" { str(long-form.len()) } else { "0" }
+
+  if mode == "short" {
+    short-form + " [len:" + s_len + "]"
+  } else if mode == "long" {
+    long-form + " [len:" + l_len + "]"
+  } else {
+    long-form + " (" + short-form + ") [L:" + l_len + ", S:" + s_len + "]"
+  }
+}
+
+#init-glossary(myGlossary, format-term: format-length-info)[#test-content]
+