to cheer up
234
1.4
- phrasal verb
- /tʃɪr ʌp/
- Informal
:
animarse
- She brought flowers to cheer him up after a tough day.
- try to cheer up
I mean, you try to cheer the person up and it's just futile.
- I mean, you try to cheer the person up and it's just futile.
- And I mean, I could use some cheering up because we all do.
- That is horrifying and depressing and there was nothing that could possibly cheer me up except this.
- It's more validating to give advice that cheers a person up than advice that challenges them.
- She asked if I'd ever made a will, so, So that cheered me up.
- It's not your job to make the Bright Sider feel better about their world by cheering up and finding that bright side.
- OK, so then I have one for you that this will really cheer you up.
- So huge thank you to the year for cheering the nation up.
- Though at this point you guys are probably thinking, come on, cheer up Linus, focus on the other points.
- I wouldn't be surprised if they were making up new states just to cheer him up.
Examples
-
Here's something to cheer you up.
-
She's a little bit shy, but she'll cheer up in just a second.
-
But to cheer you up, you can both get the prize.
-
It's just a little something to... to cheer you up.
-
I brought somebody to cheer you up, Pop.
-
You know it was a lot easier to cheer you up when you were little.
-
I wanted to cheer her up.
-
Mama tries to cheer us up; she gives that funny little smile.
Fiction book (1990) -
Hopefully I can cheer her up because I'm just great.
-
For days, she was morose, and he could do nothing to cheer her up.
Fiction book (1991)
Synonyms
685
1.0
Be less sick, sad or tired than before
392
1.0
To make someone feel happier
329
1.5
Help someone feel happier when they are sad or sick
215
3.7
To help someone become better off or more confident
69
4.1
To become or make someone feel more cheerful and relaxed
54
1.0
Cause someone to feel happy or amused
23
3.2
To make someone feel happier and more hopeful
19
3.7
To make someone feel happier and more hopeful
17
2.7
Make a room or person more cheerful
13
5.5
Make someone feel happier or more confident
12
2.3
To make someone feel happy
8
2.8
To make someone feel happier or more cheerful
8
3.9
To make someone feel happier
3
7.0
Make someone feel happier and full of energy
2
3.0
To give someone a lot of happiness, often by a small kind act
1
3.5
To make someone feel happy
1
3.9
To make someone feel happier when they are sad
1
6.0
Help someone stop being sad and start smiling
1
3.4
Help someone feel happier
To make someone feel more cheerful and confident
To make someone feel happier or more lively
To try to make someone feel happier when they are sad
Help someone feel happier by being cheerful and friendly
Stay cheerful and hopeful during hard times
Antonyms
How Happy
93
3.6
- Informal
17
2.7
- Informal
234
1.4
- Informal
16
3.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'cheer' (to cause someone to feel less sad or to give approval) combined with the particle 'up' (indicating an increase or improvement) yields a directly compositional meaning of becoming or making someone happier. This motion/telicity pattern (verb + up = increase/improvement) is common in English and similar across many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Cheer up comes from the image of someone giving a cheer and lifting a person's mood up, like raising it higher. So it means 'to become happier' or 'to make someone feel happier'.