as in stimulates
to give life, vigor, or spirit to
in most instances it's a good idea to enliven a speech with a joke or two
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Recent Examples of enlivens
Artwork by Alisa Galitsyna enlivens the room.
—
Kathryn O'Shea-Evans, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Sep. 2025
Yet each performer enlivens a role that looks a bit beleaguered on the page.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025
The music, which ranges from Motown to '80s alternative, enlivens the room without muffling conversations.
—Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer, 21 Aug. 2025
Kathryn O'Shea-Evans, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Sep. 2025
Yet each performer enlivens a role that looks a bit beleaguered on the page.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025
The music, which ranges from Motown to '80s alternative, enlivens the room without muffling conversations.
—Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enlivens
Verb
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The caffeine in coffee stimulates the nervous system.—
Team Verywell Health,
Verywell Health,
25 Sep. 2025
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Connie and Tristan are testing a new drug that stimulates the feel-good dopamine receptors in the brain.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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This conception of the self animates rational choice theory in the social sciences, with its reliance on the model of the utility-maximizing subject.—
Sophia Rosenfeld
September 26,
Literary Hub,
26 Sep. 2025
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Yet what distinguishes Bowles’s work—what animates those strange, angular sentences, with their unexpected rhythms and turns of phrase and rabid energy—isn’t its interest in nonconformity but its obsession with spiritual transformation.—
Nicole Flattery,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Enlivens.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enlivens. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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