enlightens

verb

present tense third-person singular of enlighten
1
as in informs
to give information to the lecturer at the planetarium enlightened us about the latest astronomical discoveries

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in educates
to provide (someone) with moral or spiritual understanding many people around the world have been enlightened by the teachings of Gautama Buddha

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of enlightens This style of theater both enlightens and entertains, each actor stepping out of the ensemble inside Kelleher’s direction that teeters on the edge of heavy-handidness without ever getting there. — David John Chávez, Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2026 The Harlem Book of the Dead, conceived and nurtured by Camille Billops, cherishes that remembrance and enlightens us as only memory can. — Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025 Hopefully, that prepares them to be active and engaged citizens of the democracy that George Washington fought so hard to secure and enlightens them to do something with their lives that will make the world a better place. — Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enlightens
  1. informs
  2. educates
  3. tells
  4. inspires
  5. advises
  6. instructs
Verb
  • Trump views it in zero-sum terms, as a thing the strong seize from the weak—a view that informs his constant desire to steal natural resources from smaller countries.
    — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
  • This was my strategy throughout the book and informs my citational practices as well.
    — Tim Brinkhof, JSTOR Daily, 8 July 2026
Definition of informs
Verb
  • On the continent is an elite war college that educates healers, soldiers, scribes, and — most famously — dragon riders.
    — Janey Wetzel, PEOPLE, 30 June 2026
  • Texas, which educates roughly 1 in 10 of the nation's public school students, has been at the forefront of a charge by conservatives to incorporate more religion into classrooms.
    — JAMIE STENGLE, Arkansas Online, 27 June 2026
Definition of educates
Verb
  • Knowing that a visitor asked three questions about security, spent time on your enterprise plan and then left without booking a demo tells you everything about what to do next.
    — Suyash Karn, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
  • The film, directed by award-winning filmmaker Bao Nguyen, in part tells the story of how CEO Matt Mullenweg founded what became Automattic, a company rooted in the philosophy of open-source software.
    — Todd Spangler, Variety, 8 July 2026
Definition of tells
Verb
  • Mars and Uranus’ alignment inspires you to follow your passions, but be mindful of the risks involved!
    — USA TODAY, USA Today, 4 July 2026
  • That being said, be sure to pay attention to what’s pushing your buttons, but also recognize what finally inspires you to charge ahead.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026
Definition of inspires
Verb
  • To minimize risks during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) advises incorporating frequent rest breaks in shaded or air-conditioned areas.
    — NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 9 July 2026
  • To minimize risks during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) advises incorporating frequent rest breaks in shaded or air-conditioned areas.
    — CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 8 July 2026
Definition of advises
Verb
  • That runs counter to the state’s guidance, which instructs regional planning agencies to assess service by the total numbers of trains.
    — Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 July 2026
  • When a developer, for instance, instructs a coding agent to clone a popular new repository, the LLM hallucinates its correct location up to 85 percent of the time.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 8 July 2026
Definition of instructs

Browse Nearby Words

enlightenment
enlightens
enlist
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Enlightens.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enlightens. Accessed 13 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on enlightens

Nglish: Translation of enlightens for Spanish Speakers

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!

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
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All