enlighten
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to give information or understanding to; instruct; edify
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to free from ignorance, prejudice, or superstition
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to give spiritual or religious revelation to
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poetic to shed light on
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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enlightenedlyadverb
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enlighteningadjective
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unenlightenedadjective
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reenlightenverb (used with object)
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enlightenernoun
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enlightenednessnoun
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nonenlightenedadjective
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preenlightenernoun
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well-enlightenedadjective
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preenlightenverb (used with object)
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have enlightenedperfect
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has enlightenedperfect 3rd person singular
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is enlighteningprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been enlighteningperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been enlighteningperfect progressive
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enlightenssingular 3rd person
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are enlighteningprogressive
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am enlighteningprogressive 1st person singular
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enlighteningparticiple
Past
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had enlightenedperfect
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had been enlighteningperfect progressive
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was enlighteningprogressive singular
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were enlighteningprogressive plural
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enlightenedparticiple
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enlightenedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of enlighten
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English enli(g)htenen; see en- 1, lighten 1
Explanation
To enlighten someone means to explain something clearly to him. If your friend is behaving strangely but insists she has a reason for it, you could ask her to enlighten you. Enlighten comes from the metaphor that ignorance is a state of being "in the dark," and that knowledge is illuminating. We use enlighten as a verb meaning to clear up, to remove confusion. Light is also a powerful metaphor for spiritual insight. If you have a great revelation about the divinity of the world, you could say you have been enlightened. The era known as the "Age of Reason" is also called the Enlightenment.
Vocabulary lists containing enlighten
"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 14–18
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Ronald Reagan, "Tear Down This Wall" (1987)
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The Titan's Curse
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When you get a varied body of work, it can enlighten your own life in a way, and that’s a great feeling.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 17, 2026
So can you enlighten us as to the great wisdom Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito share in their own concurrences?
From Slate • Jun. 18, 2025
"I think in the spirit of the bikers, Dave would want me to continue to have fun and to educate, to inform, to enlighten, to be slightly edgy," he says.
From BBC • Dec. 6, 2024
If you’re wondering what the Jane’s Addiction split and Walt Whitman’s groundbreaking “Leaves of Grass” have in common, allow rocker Dave Navarro to enlighten you.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2024
I have read your letters to poor Lucy, and know how good you are and how your husband suffer; so I pray you, if it may be, enlighten him not, lest it may harm.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
