Quantcast
Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
  • Dictionary
  • Thesaurus
  • Scrabble
  • Spanish Central
  • Learner's Dictionary

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

lighten up

verb

Definition of lighten up

  1. intransitive verb

  2. :  to take things less seriously



1911

First Known Use of lighten up

1911

Learn More about lighten up

  1. Nglish: Translation of lighten up for Spanish speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up lighten up? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

WORD OF THE DAY

vamoose

play

to depart quickly

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. diaspora From the Greek word meaning "to scatter"

  2. big league, bigly Both are real words

  3. stamina The word means "staying power"

  4. temperament The candidates attacked each other's temperaments

  5. braggadocio Trump said 'braggadocious'

SEE ALL

Words at Play

autumn
Is It 'Autumn' or 'Fall'?

Why does this season have two different names?

transfiguration
'Dumbledore', 'Hippogriff', and 11 More Real Words from Harry Potter

The history behind Harry Potter

hipster
The Original Hipsters

Hint: they carried things on their hips

spitting-image
Where Does 'Spitting Image' Come From?

And what about 'splitting image'?

Ask the Editors

subjunctive
How to Use the Subjunctive in English

If I were you, I'd watch this

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

alphabet-pasta-spelling-help
Difficult Spelling Words Quiz

Can you spell these 15 tricky spelling words?

Take the quiz
who-knew-quiz
Who Knew?

Take this quiz and discover 12 words for things you didn't know had words.

Take the quiz
Name That Thing
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

Take the quiz
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!

Play the game