lightened 1 of 3

adjective

1
as in illuminated

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words
2
as in eased

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

lightened

2 of 3

verb (1)

past tense of lighten
as in brightened
to become glad or hopeful the patient lightened when he heard the disease responds well to treatment

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

lightened

3 of 3

verb (2)

past tense of lighten
as in illumined
to supply with light the room was gradually lightened by the rising sun

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 lightened
Adjective
Instead, Guarnaschelli recommends color drenching the ceiling in darker rooms, either with the same color or a slightly lightened shade. — Heather Bien, Southern Living, 14 July 2026 New photos show the singer with lightened hair. — Hannah Malach, InStyle, 28 May 2026 Robinson added 17 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and a block, and both Mikal Bridges (23 minutes) and Josh Hart (28) saw lightened workloads as the Knicks made quick work of the Bulls on Friday. — Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 4 Apr. 2026 Only two of the eight wives this season are blonde, a stark difference from season one wherein all but one had highlights, lightened hair, or full-on bleach jobs. — Elizabeth Gulino, Allure, 26 Mar. 2026
Verb
Continue mixing on low until the batter has lightened, about 2 minutes. — Terrence Hayes, Southern Living, 8 Aug. 2026 Almost every area of the AMR26 has been refined or lightened. — Alex Kalinauckas, New York Times, 24 July 2026 Yamamoto’s gem not only set up the Dodgers for the win but also lightened the load on a bullpen tasked with covering Game 2. — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2026 Hinduism is a narrative religion; its mercurial wisdom is lightened and sweetened by stories, softened by ambiguities, sharpened by paradoxes. — Chandrahas Choudhury, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 July 2026 The sweetness of vanilla is contrasted with sharp musk and sandalwood and lightened with fresh jasmine. — Tamim Alnuweiri, InStyle, 23 June 2026 Congress has since lightened some of the harsh mandatory penalties that applied to Bailey and others convicted back in the 1990s. — Carrie Johnson, NPR, 23 June 2026 His workload was certainly lightened with the casting of Cayleigh Capaldi as his Maria. — Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 4 June 2026 Nagatitan belonged to a subgroup of sauropods that possessed bones with lots of internal air sacs and thin walls, traits that lightened their skeletons. — Reuters, NBC news, 15 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lightened
  1. illuminated
  2. eased
  3. brightened
  4. illumined
  5. dazzling
  6. decreased
  7. lit
  8. shiny
Adjective
  • Since its debut, the exhibition's illuminated Victorian-style gazebos have delighted millions of guests and become part of countless family traditions.
    — S.E. Jenkins, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Each illuminated pixel converts that light into an electrical pulse, stimulating nearby retinal cells and putting visual information back into the pathway leading to the brain.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of illuminated
Adjective
  • Real estate developers are already cautiously planning to take advantage of the eased regulations and plan to announce new projects after the law goes into effect.
    — Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
  • Despite the eased restrictions, Rader is still only allowed out of his 8-foot-by-10-foot cell for one hour a day, five days a week.
    — Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 10 Oct. 2025
Definition of eased
Verb
  • Kristin opened her mouth a little, not to speak, and the angel brightened, and the man’s voice got farther away.
    — Gabriel Winslow-Yost, New Yorker, 30 July 2026
  • Much of the route ran beside a long wall covered in street art, which brightened the otherwise industrial surroundings.
    — David Nikel, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
Definition of brightened
Verb
  • 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
Definition of illumined
Adjective
  • Before the weekend, Sony had initially been projecting a much less dazzling start of $195 million domestic and $465 million global that would have still put the film among the top 10 all-time debuts.
    — Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 3 Aug. 2026
  • But what began as another dazzling night in the orbit of Hollywood’s elite was about to take a nightmarish turn—one that would send shock waves through the entertainment industry, through Los Angeles, and beyond.
    — Peter Rowe, Air Mail, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of dazzling
Adjective
  • Some of these studies even suggest a decreased risk of breast cancer with certain formulations of menopausal hormone therapy.
    — Versha Pleasant, The Conversation, 30 July 2026
  • He was slowed early in his recovery from a knee injury and then saw a decreased role in the rotation in the last month, playing only seven minutes in three tournament games.
    — Joseph Duarte, Houston Chronicle, 28 Mar. 2026
Definition of decreased
Verb
  • Harbaugh lit one more friendly fire under his team at the end of Thursday’s jog-through practice.
    — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The Plan Commission report said while, due to the nature of the development, the gas station would be brightly lit, the convenience store building and a heavily landscaped area to the west would block the impact of light for neighbors.
    — Evy Lewis, Chicago Tribune, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of lit
Adjective
  • The firms that remember this over the next three years will have something real to show for it when the shiny object loses its shine.
    — Louis Mosca, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Flea Beetles Flea beetles are tiny, shiny black or brownish beetles that hop like a flea when disturbed.
    — Arricca Elin SanSone, Southern Living, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of shiny

Browse Nearby Words

lighten
lightened
lightening
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Lightened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lightened. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on lightened

Nglish: Translation of lightened 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

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

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?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
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
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All