to lighten up

Examples

• All

• So don’t you think it’s time for you to lighten up and start having more fun?

  Blog text (7)

• " You need to lighten up, boy; have yourself some fun.

  Fiction book (1994)

• All right, can you lighten up a little bit?

  That's My Boy (2012)

• You have got to lighten up.

  Trouble with the Curve (2012)

• Okay, everybody, just lighten up.

  Demon Slayer (2003)

• I think people need to lighten up when it comes to sex.

  Blog text (25)

• You need to lighten up, Shadow.

  Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)

• Well, those people need to lighten up and grow a sense of humor.

  Blog text (27)

• - You've gotta lighten up.

  Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005)

• "Will you just lighten up?" she hissed, standing on tiptoe to speak into his ear.

  Fiction book (1994)

Synonyms

C

to cheer

vsto lighten up

248 1.0

To make someone feel happier

adds a calming effect and reduces seriousness

C

to cheer up

vsto lighten up

• Informal

236 1.4

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

is broader, including both cheerfulness and relaxed, less serious tone

L

to lighten

vsto lighten up

125 3.4

To make people or a situation feel more cheerful

adds a clearer sense of becoming relaxed as well as cheerful

L

to loosen up

vsto lighten up

• Informal

86 3.4

To relax and become less nervous or tense

is more about increasing cheerfulness rather than only relaxing

M

to make someone smile

vsto lighten up

85 1.0

Cause someone to feel happy or amused

is broader, adding relaxed, less serious mood change

B

to brighten

vsto lighten up

71 2.7

To make a place or thing look more cheerful by adding color

applies mood change to people and includes relaxation too

U

to uplift

vsto lighten up

64 3.2

To make someone feel happier and more hopeful

stresses becoming more relaxed and less serious in mood

L

to light up

vsto lighten up

• Informal

55 3.7

Become lively and cheerful because someone is there

is more personal, stressing relaxed and less serious mood

M

to mellow

vsto lighten up

35 4.0

To become or make something softer, gentler, and more pleasant

leans more toward making someone cheerful and less serious

P

to perk up

vsto lighten up

• Informal

31 3.1

Become more lively and cheerful after feeling tired or sad

leans more toward calming and reducing seriousness than high energy

B

to buck up

vsto lighten up

• Informal

25 6.3

To become or make someone more cheerful and confident

focuses more on reducing seriousness and becoming relaxed

B

to brighten up

vsto lighten up

• Informal

22 2.7

Make a room or person more cheerful

puts slightly more weight on also becoming relaxed and less serious

M

to mellow out

vsto lighten up

• Informal

22 6.3

Become more relaxed and easygoing

is more about adding cheerfulness and lightening seriousness

L

to liven up

vsto lighten up

• Informal

19 3.9

To make or become more active and interesting

is more about easing seriousness and creating a relaxed mood

L

to lift someone's spirits

vsto lighten up

17 3.9

To make someone feel happier when they are sad

also suggests a gentler shift toward relaxation and less seriousness

E

to enliven

vsto lighten up

8 4.1

Make something more active and interesting

focuses more on softening mood and reducing seriousness

R

to raise someone's spirits

vsto lighten up

6 3.4

Help someone feel happier

adds the idea of becoming calmer and less serious while cheering

P

to pep up

vsto lighten up

• Informal

3 4.1

Make someone or something more lively and interesting

is softer, focusing more on easing seriousness than on energy

B

to buoy up

vsto lighten up

1 5.3

To make someone feel more cheerful and confident

is similar but highlights becoming more relaxed and less serious

T

to turn a frown upside down

vsto lighten up

• Informal

1 6.0

Help someone stop being sad and start smiling

also implies becoming calmer and less serious afterward

J

to jolly up

vsto lighten up

• UK

1 8.2

To try to make someone feel happier when they are sad

is more about easing tension and becoming less serious

C

to chase away the gloom

vsto lighten up

1 5.5

Make someone feel less sad and more cheerful

also implies becoming less tense and more relaxed afterward

L

to lift one's spirits

vsto lighten up

3.9

To make someone feel happier

includes that uplift but stresses becoming more relaxed too

B

to brighten one's day

vsto lighten up

• Informal

2.8

To make someone feel happier or more cheerful

adds the sense of relaxing and losing seriousness as well

C

to chirk up

vsto lighten up

• Archaic

8.6

To make someone feel happier or more lively

places a stronger emphasis on becoming relaxed and less serious

Antonyms

S

to stress

85 2.7

To feel pressure and worry because of difficult situations

S

to sadden

84 2.3

To make someone feel sad

How Cheerful

to cheer up

• Informal

236 1.4

to lighten up

• Informal

111 4.1

to loosen up

• Informal

86 3.4

to relax

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology