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Glite Dictionary
😊 To cheer up 🪶 To make easier 💡 To make brighter
to lighten

to lighten

16 2.3
To make a place or color look brighter
  • verb
  • /ˈlaɪtən/
translation icon : aclarar
  • Adding a brighter shade of paint will definitely lighten this dark corner.
  • lighten the sky

Just like a little hit of it right here just to lighten it up.

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Examples

  • So I constantly use SPF and brightening serums and things just to kind of lighten it a little bit.

  • The sky seemed to lighten, and soon there was a break in the clouds.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Want to lighten this area here?

  • But it does lighten up this time of night.

    No Panic with a Hint of Hysteria (2016)

  • A simple cream could really lighten things up.

    American Beauty (1999)

  • The sky was just beginning to lighten when the phone rang.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Annoyed, she decided to question the creature as the dawn began to lighten the sky.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The young dancer didn't fall asleep until dawn began to lighten the room.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • It kind of lightens the color a little bit and makes it look a little bit more pink.

  • The Lord has renewed my strength and lightened my burdens.

    The Ten Commandments (1956)

Synonyms

to light
vsto lighten
905 1.0

To make something start to burn or shine

also applies when brightness comes from changing a thing's color
to light up
vsto lighten
64 2.5

Begin to shine or make something begin to shine, for example by burning

includes changing color as well as adding light
to illuminate
vsto lighten
52 4.1

To make something bright or visible with light

also covers changing color, not only making visible
to bleach
vsto lighten
50 3.2

To make something lighter in color, often using chemicals or sunlight

is more general, also meaning adding light rather than removing color
to whiten
vsto lighten
8 2.8

Make or become more white in color

is broader, also including simply adding light not color change
to lighten up
vsto lighten
6 3.3

To make a room or object look brighter and more cheerful

is mainly about brightness or paleness without mood change
to illumine
vsto lighten
1 8.1

To light something or make it easier to understand

covers both adding light and altering color appearance
to bleach out
vsto lighten
1 3.8

Make clothes and similar things much lighter in color, usually by sunlight or chemicals

is the general action of brightening by light or color change
to lumine
vsto lighten
  • Archaic
9.9

To make something shine with soft light

is the neutral term for both light and color change
to discolorize
vsto lighten
  • US
8.9

To make something lose its color or become lighter

includes brightening by light as well as color loss
to decolorize
vsto lighten
  • US
7.0

To take the color out of something like fabric or a photograph

also covers making brighter by adding illumination rather than removing pigment
to decolourize
vsto lighten
  • UK
7.7

To make something lose its color

is broader, meaning brighter by light or by color change

Antonyms

to darken
63 3.3

Make or become less bright, for example a room

Idioms

to lighten one's purse
  • Archaic
8.3

To spend a lot of money and have less left

Phrasal Verbs

to lighten up
  • Informal
69 4.1

To become or make someone feel more cheerful and relaxed

to lighten up
6 3.3

To make a room or object look brighter and more cheerful

to lighten tensions
4.1

Make a tense situation calmer

How Bright

to bleach
50 3.2
to lighten
16 2.3
to brighten
5 2.1

Surface Forms

lighten infinitive
lightened past
lightened past participle
lightening present participle
lightens third person singular

Morphology

lighten = light (transparent) = light + en

The verb 'lighten' is transparently derived from the noun 'light', meaning to make brighter or lighter in color.

Etymology

Lighten also comes from light meaning 'brightness' with the ending -en, so to lighten a room or colour is to make it 'brighter', like opening curtains or turning on a lamp.