lighten up en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
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(idiomatic, intransitive, transitive) To make (something) or to become less serious and more cheerful or casual; to relax.
you lighten up my heart when I start to cry
2008, Adele, First Love:The mood at work has been tense, so he's looking for ways to lighten it up.
I wish he'd lighten up a bit and realize that we were only joking.
Sondheim's sense of life — which is pretty pessimistic (I don't think that anyone ever ends happily ever after in a Sondheim musical) — is brought through without trying to lighten it up.
1983 August 6, Michael Bronski, “Gay Sensibility, Straight Imitation”, in Gay Community News, page 8:
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(transitive) To lighten (something): to decrease its weight.
He can't get any more power out of it [his drag racer], so now he's looking for ways to lighten it up.
Near-synonym: slim down
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| lightened up | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| lightened up | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| lightens up | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| lightening up | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Relateds
Synonyms
Translations (3)
ota خفیفلنمك (to make or become less serious) · fi ottaa rennommin (to make or become less serious) · es amenizar (to make or become less serious)