I have just tested the glossary operator in 3.3 and it works as well as in 3.2. What is your problem when using it? Have you used the correct syntax in template?
Example: Use the following code replace the original one in /design/standard/templates/content/datatype/view/ezxmltext.tpl {$attribute.content.output.output_text|glossary(true,2,"replace" )}, this will "glossaried" all objects under node 2.