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Glite Dictionary
to jolly up

to jolly up

8.2
To try to make someone feel happier when they are sad
  • phrasal verb
  • UK
translation icon : animar
  • She tried to jolly up her friend with some silly jokes and stories.

Examples

  • The manager decided to jolly up the team after their disappointing performance.

  • Let's jolly up this dull day!

  • We brought balloons and cake to jolly up the party after the bad news.

  • I jolly up my friends.

  • He always tries to jolly up his colleagues during the long meetings with funny anecdotes.

  • To jolly up her sister, she planned a surprise outing filled with laughter and fun.

  • The teacher organized a fun game to jolly up her students before the exam week.

Synonyms

to cheer
vsto jolly up
392 1.0

To make someone feel happier

tries to lift mood but may not always achieve it
to cheer up
vsto jolly up
  • Informal
234 1.4

To feel happier after being sad or to make someone feel happier

tries to cause happiness rather than guaranteeing complete recovery
to lighten up
vsto jolly up
  • Informal
69 4.1

To become or make someone feel more cheerful and relaxed

tries to increase cheer without necessarily reducing seriousness
to make someone smile
vsto jolly up
54 1.0

Cause someone to feel happy or amused

tries to make someone feel happier, not only to cause a brief smile
to pump up
vsto jolly up
  • Informal
28 4.1

Make someone feel excited and full of energy

tries to make someone happier rather than strongly raising excitement
to uplift
vsto jolly up
23 3.2

To make someone feel happier and more hopeful

tries to boost cheer but lacks the added idea of inspiring people
to overjoy
vsto jolly up
21 4.1

Make someone very happy

tries to make someone happier but does not aim for extreme delight
to lift up
vsto jolly up
19 3.7

To make someone feel happier and more hopeful

tries to boost cheer but is less about inspiring strong optimism
to brighten up
vsto jolly up
  • Informal
17 2.7

Make a room or person more cheerful

tries to lift mood but focuses on attempting rather than assured outcome
to perk up
vsto jolly up
  • Informal
16 3.1

Become more lively and cheerful after feeling tired or sad

tries to lift mood generally, not only after tiredness or low energy
to buck up
vsto jolly up
  • Informal
14 6.3

To become or make someone more cheerful and confident

tries to make someone happier but not specifically to raise bravery
to brighten one's day
vsto jolly up
  • Informal
8 2.8

To make someone feel happier or more cheerful

tries to improve mood but may not always succeed
to lift one's spirits
vsto jolly up
8 3.9

To make someone feel happier

tries to cause that change but does not promise success
to spirit up
vsto jolly up
  • Informal
3 7.0

Make someone feel happier and full of energy

tries to lift a person's cheer rather than raising group morale
to pep up
vsto jolly up
  • Informal
3 4.1

Make someone or something more lively and interesting

tries to make mood happier rather than mainly increasing energy
to hype up
vsto jolly up
  • Informal
3 5.6

To make someone feel very excited about something

tries to cheer but does not aim for extreme excitement or buzz
to jolly
vsto jolly up
  • Informal
1 7.0

To act in a playful way to make someone laugh

tries to make someone happier but does not require playful teasing
to lift someone's spirits
vsto jolly up
1 3.9

To make someone feel happier when they are sad

tries to improve mood rather than necessarily succeeding in doing so
to raise someone's spirits
vsto jolly up
1 3.4

Help someone feel happier

tries to lift mood but may not actually change feelings
to turn a frown upside down
vsto jolly up
  • Informal
1 6.0

Help someone stop being sad and start smiling

tries to improve mood in general rather than only acting when someone is upset
to buoy up
vsto jolly up
5.3

To make someone feel more cheerful and confident

tries to increase cheer but does not focus on building confidence
to jolly along
vsto jolly up
  • UK
8.4

Help someone feel happier by being cheerful and friendly

tries to lift mood but not necessarily by cheerfulness or support
to chirk up
vsto jolly up
  • Archaic
8.6

To make someone feel happier or more lively

tries to improve mood rather than promising a clear change

Antonyms

to sadden
76 2.3

To make someone feel sad

to depress
32 4.1

To make someone feel sad and lose hope

How Cheerful

to cheer up
  • Informal
234 1.4
to jolly up
  • UK
8.2
to perk up
  • Informal
16 3.1
to cheer
392 1.0
to encourage
∞ 2.3

Surface Forms

jolly up infinitive
jollied up past
jollied up past participle
jollying up present participle
jollies up third person singular

Morphology

jolly + up

The meaning 'to make someone feel happier' is directly built from 'jolly' (to amuse or enliven) plus the particle 'up' (indicating an increase or improvement), so the overall sense is compositionally predictable. This verb+up pattern (compare 'cheer up', 'brighten up') is common and cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely understand it.

Etymology

Jolly up comes from the simple image of making someone more jolly and lifting them up, like giving a joke or a small treat to raise their mood. So, jolly up means 'to make someone happier'.