cheer up

Idioms

Become or make happy, raise the spirits of, as in This fine weather should cheer you up. This term may also be used as an imperative, as Shakespeare did (2 Henry IV, 4:4): “My sovereign lord, cheer up yourself.” [Late 1500s]

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.

And, hoping to cheer up her son, she produces William from the pantry.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2026

So cheer up, everyone — it might not happen.

From Salon • Dec. 10, 2025

And as an artist, she’s glad that, even as a 16-year-old just beginning her career, she never gave in to the pressure to cheer up her tracks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 29, 2025

Voters started to cheer up about the economy.

From Slate • Sep. 6, 2024

It seemed to cheer up the family a little.

From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023