verb · neutral
lighten
/ˈlaɪtən/LIGHT·en
Band 5-6speakingtask2
to make something less heavy or less serious; also to make lighter in color or mood
Examples
“The medication helped to lighten her pain.”
“He tried to lighten the mood with a joke.”
“The artist used white to lighten the painting.”
Band 8 sentence
“She told a short story to lighten an otherwise tense meeting, which worked surprisingly well.”
Collocations
- lighten the mood
- lighten the burden
- lighten the colour
Word family
light noun / adjective / verblighten verblightened adjective / past participlelightening noun / gerund
Common mistakes
make lighter→lighten
lighten up the mood→lighten the mood
She lighten the pain yesterday→She lightened the pain yesterday
Say it for a higher band
5make lighter→6ease→7+lighten
Synonyms
ease
brighten
Easily confused
brighten
“The sun brightened the room in the afternoon.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In -en
Learn it with its set