as in to brighten
to become glad or hopeful
the patient lightened when he heard the disease responds well to treatment
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to illumine
to supply with light
the room was gradually lightened by the rising sun
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lighten
Rodney Carmichael, NPR, 3 June 2026
One partner gets a little embarrassed, but the other lightens the mood and keeps encouraging them.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026
Yet these technologies did not lead to long-term elevated unemployment, nor lighten the burdens put on workers.
—Christopher Marquis, Time, 30 May 2026
The wet process involves washing jeans with water, chemicals and treatments that lighten or tint the denim.
—ABC News, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for lighten
Verb
Not the irony of having a skin-lightening condition (or predilection) while singlehandedly Blackening up the portals of pop music by integrating a music video network that upheld America's racist standard of (in)visibility.
—Rodney Carmichael, NPR, 3 June 2026
One partner gets a little embarrassed, but the other lightens the mood and keeps encouraging them.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026
Yet these technologies did not lead to long-term elevated unemployment, nor lighten the burdens put on workers.
—Christopher Marquis, Time, 30 May 2026
The wet process involves washing jeans with water, chemicals and treatments that lighten or tint the denim.
—ABC News, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for lighten
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lighten
Verb
-
More than one person shared that Leah could brighten someone's day without even realizing it simply because kindness came so naturally to her.—
Angel Saunders,
PEOPLE,
10 June 2026
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Venus conjoins Jupiter in Cancer, brightening your 3rd House of Communication with warmth, sincerity, and useful connection.—
Tarot.com,
Chicago Tribune,
9 June 2026
Verb
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Fantastic, illumined by periodic excursions into surrealism, as when the crew of a mysterious UFO boards a transpacific Kahuna Airlines jet midflight.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Geraldine walked over to Felix and Jane’s for fish soup, through long autumn shadows in the park, haze rising like smoke from the grass, illumined by the low sun.—
Tessa Hadley,
New Yorker,
25 Jan. 2026
Verb
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According to Mauricio Cortés, the architect responsible, Gaudí had imagined a reflective cross that shone during the day and illuminated the skyline at night.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
8 June 2026
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As the sun set, the grounds glowed with scarlet lights that illuminated the red ottomans in the seating and lounge areas, creating an almost theatrical atmosphere.—
Stefania Conrieri,
Vanity Fair,
7 June 2026
Verb
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Hunters often lit blazing fires, which disoriented and frightened the elk, and as many animals as possible were killed.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
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This type of signage became so ubiquitous and so grotesquely huge across the city as businesses advertised and competed for visual attention that they were forcefully phased out by the government in the 2010s and replaced by Korean letters tastefully cut out to be lit from within instead.—
Anton Hur,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Lighten.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lighten. Accessed 15 Jun. 2026.
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