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Glite Dictionary
to ginger up

to ginger up

8.1
To make something more lively or exciting
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : animar
  • They decided to ginger up the party with colorful decorations and lively music.

Examples

  • To ginger up the boring meeting, he introduced some engaging activities.

  • The coach had some great ideas to ginger up the team's halftime performance.

  • She ever tell you how we could ginger up a whole stadium?

    The Border (1982)

Synonyms

to liven up
vsto ginger up
  • Informal
66 3.9

To make or become more active and interesting

is the same idea but stresses adding liveliness or excitement
to heat up
vsto ginger up
57 3.4

To become more intense or make a situation more intense

focuses more on adding liveliness and energy than on intensity alone
to pump up
vsto ginger up
  • Informal
28 4.1

Make someone feel excited and full of energy

is about making things livelier but less aggressively than this term
to spice up
vsto ginger up
  • Informal
23 3.9

To make something more interesting or exciting

focuses on raising general liveliness or energy rather than small details
to brighten up
vsto ginger up
  • Informal
17 2.7

Make a room or person more cheerful

aims more at boosting energy and excitement than mood or looks
to perk up
vsto ginger up
  • Informal
16 3.1

Become more lively and cheerful after feeling tired or sad

is the general increase of liveliness for any situation rather than recovery
to enliven
vsto ginger up
6 4.1

Make something more active and interesting

is more about raising excitement and energy than neutral liveliness
to liven
vsto ginger up
4 3.6

To make something more exciting or interesting

leans more toward raising energy and excitement overall
to pep
vsto ginger up
  • Informal
4 4.9

To make someone or something more lively

is the general act of making things livelier rather than energising people
to pep up
vsto ginger up
  • Informal
3 4.1

Make someone or something more lively and interesting

is similar but can be broader than an active boost
to jazz up
vsto ginger up
  • Informal
2 5.1

Make something more interesting and lively, like a room or outfit

is the general act of increasing liveliness without playful style
to ginger
vsto ginger up
1 7.0

To add a spicy root to food or to make something more lively

is the broader act of creating liveliness without implying flavour addition
to hot up
vsto ginger up
  • UK
1 7.7

To become more active or exciting in a situation

is about increasing liveliness overall rather than gradual intensity change
to juice up
vsto ginger up
  • Informal
6.7

Make an event like a party more lively and exciting

focuses specifically on increasing liveliness rather than general enhancement
to kick up excitement
vsto ginger up
4.4

Make people more interested and eager about something

is the broader act of making things more lively, not only visible excitement
to chirk up
vsto ginger up
  • Archaic
8.6

To make someone feel happier or more lively

is broader, focusing on energy and excitement beyond gentle cheerfulness

Antonyms

to deaden
3 5.5

To make a feeling, sound, or pain less strong

How Lively

to energize
  • US
65 3.7
to spice up
  • Informal
23 3.9
to ginger up
  • Informal
8.1
to perk up
  • Informal
16 3.1
to brighten
27 2.7

Surface Forms

ginger up infinitive
gingered up past
gingered up past participle
gingering up present participle
gingers up third person singular

Morphology

ginger + up

The verb 'ginger' (to enliven) combined with the particle 'up' (to increase/intensify) yields a directly compositional meaning 'make more lively or exciting.' This verb+up pattern is a common, productive construction in English and is likely predictable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Ginger up may come from the spice ginger. People add ginger to food or drinks to give them a warm, lively taste, and the word up suggests 'more', so to ginger up something means 'make it more lively' or 'exciting'.