Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive & intransitive verb To make or become bright or brighter.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To grow bright or more bright; become less dark or gloomy: literally or figuratively.
  • To make bright or brighter in any manner; shed light on; make to shine; increase the luster of.
  • To dispel gloom from; cheer; make gay or cheerful: as, to brighten prospects.
  • To make illustrious or more distinguished; heighten the splendor of; add luster to.
  • To make acute or witty; sharpen the faculties of.
  • To add brilliancy to the colors of (prints, etc.), by boiling them in a solution of soda.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To grow bright, or more bright; to become less dark or gloomy; to clear up; to become bright or cheerful.
  • transitive verb To make bright or brighter; to make to shine; to increase the luster of; to give a brighter hue to.
  • transitive verb To make illustrious, or more distinguished; to add luster or splendor to.
  • transitive verb To improve or relieve by dispelling gloom or removing that which obscures and darkens; to shed light upon; to make cheerful.
  • transitive verb To make acute or witty; to enliven.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To make bright or brighter in color
  • verb transitive To add luster or splendor to
  • verb transitive (figuratively) To make more cheerful and pleasant; to enliven
  • verb intransitive To grow bright, or more bright in color; to clear up
  • verb intransitive To become brighter or more cheerful in mood

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb become clear
  • verb make lighter or brighter

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Anglo-Saxon beorhtan. bright +‎ -en

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Examples

  • Cretak allowed her expression to brighten, as if with great relief.

    CATALYST OF SORROWS Margaret Wander Bonanno 2004

  • Cretak allowed her expression to brighten, as if with great relief.

    CATALYST OF SORROWS Margaret Wander Bonanno 2004

  • Proponents urge us to "brighten" clouds by spraying up droplets of sea water, as scientists are now trying to do with a little help from Bill Gates.

    Craig K. Comstock: Hack the Planet? 2010

  • I like lime wedge or even a cucumber slice in my water ... do you have any favorite ways to 'brighten' a plain glass of water?

    LENNDEVOURS: 2007

  • I like lime wedge or even a cucumber slice in my water ... do you have any favorite ways to 'brighten' a plain glass of water?

    A Week Without Wine...Yes Really 2007

  • IF I wanted to "brighten" up my pesto a bit I would stick it back in my food processor and add a bit more lime juice I love the brightness of lime juice in pesto and that's it.

    How to Freeze Fresh Basil Kalyn Denny 2008

  • Just kind of brighten you up a little, here on this Sunday morning.

    CNN Transcript Mar 30, 2008 2008

  • I say Jared, because whenever I got bogged down, he was there to kind of brighten me up.

    For the Children: Lessons from a Visionary Principal; How We Can Save Our Public School 1993

  • The face, at this moment, was a sad one, but its lines expressed no weak surrender to dolefulness; her lips were courageous, and her eyes such as brighten readily with joy.

    Denzil Quarrier George Gissing 1880

  • Proponents urge us to "brighten" clouds by spraying up droplets of sea water, as scientists are now trying to do with a little help from Bill Gates.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com 2010

Comments

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  • I've never before seen this use of "brighten" to mean something like ameliorate:

    "They drank linden tea to brighten a cold or tame the nerves." The Zookeeper's Wife, pg 21

    I like the synonym "ameliorate" because this use of brighten was in the context of linden honey and its uses.

    March 31, 2009