cheer (up)

verb

Definition of cheer (up)next
1
as in to brighten
to become glad or hopeful cheer up—things are bound to get better

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to encourage
to fill with courage or strength of purpose the general's speech cheered up the troops tremendously

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cheer (up)
  1. brighten
  2. encourage
  3. look up
  4. inspire
Verb
  • Tie a bandana around the back of your cap to brighten up a classic style.
    — Odeya Pinkus, InStyle, 8 July 2026
  • Her rich brunette color was brightened with shimmering, blonde highlights that were especially apparent in her half-up braid crown.
    — Marci Robin, Allure, 6 July 2026
Definition of brighten
Verb
  • Early on, Whalen had encouraged a fruit plate, paired with California cheeses, that never quite took off with customers.
    — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
  • Today’s astro-weather encourages us to be emotionally intelligent without being evasive.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 8 July 2026
Definition of encourage
Verb
  • Before noon, families had folding chairs lined up along Highways 244 and 16A, in Keystone and Hill City, and not for any parade – just to look up nearly 12 hours from now.
    — Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 3 July 2026
  • On June 30, Perry rewore one of the looks up for charity while performing at Cardiff Castle in Cardiff, Wales.
    — Michelle Lee, PEOPLE, 1 July 2026
Definition of look up
Verb
  • Styles and Swift dated on-and-off until 2013, when their breakup inspired several songs on Swift’s 1989.
    — Kathleen Perricone, Entertainment Weekly, 8 July 2026
  • Richards, who slept with his guitar and kept a tape recorder by his bed in case he got inspired, came up with the riff and refrain virtually in his sleep.
    — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 July 2026
Definition of inspire
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

cheers (up)
cheer (up)
cheery
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cheer (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cheer%20%28up%29. Accessed 9 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tacit

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All