1
as in brightened
to become glad or hopeful
we perked up once the sun came out
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in lifted
to move from a lower to a higher place or position
the dog tilts her head and perks up her ears whenever someone speaks to her
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for perked (up)
Verb
-
Even the interest rate outlook brightened this week, with fed funds futures suddenly pricing in at least one cut by the end of the year.—
Sarah Min,
CNBC,
10 Apr. 2026 -
Artificial lights at night brightened up planet Earth by 16% between 2014 and 2022, a new study using satellite images has revealed.—
Tereza Pultarova,
Space.com,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Teammates encouraged her and one even lifted her chin, but the damage was done.—
David Brandt,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Minutes later, Malenstyn got to the front and lifted home a rebound.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Stephen Curry swished a 3-pointer on his second shot from deep and raised his arms in delight when the ball went through.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
6 Apr. 2026
-
My father had lived an extraordinary life as a young Black man born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, during the 1940s.—
Shayla Martin,
Condé Nast Traveler,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Virginia Nishita took a deep breath, tried wiping her eyes dry and looked up, toward the heavens.—
Jakob Rodgers,
Mercury News,
7 Apr. 2026
-
One moment that stood out in particular came when a young girl’s family reached out, saying their daughter looked up to her.—
Jordan Greene,
PEOPLE,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The evening was elevated by live music from a local country band, complete with a pedal steel guitar, reminiscent of Lee Hazlewood.—
Alexandra Genova,
TheWeek,
7 Apr. 2026
-
The relative success of the war elevated the Revolutionary Guard from a small, street-level militia, initially created to protect Khomeini and the other clerics at the forefront of the Islamic Revolution, into the symbolic defenders of the theocracy.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Perked (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perked%20%28up%29. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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