enliven
Americanverb (used with object)
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enlivens,
present (3rd person singular)
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enlivened,
past participle, past
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enlivening
present participle
verb
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to make active, vivacious, or spirited; invigorate
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to make cheerful or bright; gladden or brighten
Synonym Usage
See cheer.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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enlivenernoun
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enlivenmentnoun
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enliveningadjective
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unenlivenedadjective
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unenliveningadjective
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enliveninglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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enlivensimple
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enlivenssimple
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have enlivenedperfect
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has enlivenedperfect
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am enliveningprogressive
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are enliveningprogressive
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is enliveningprogressive
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have been enliveningperfect progressive
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has been enliveningperfect progressive
Past
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enlivenedsimple
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had enlivenedperfect
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was enliveningprogressive
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were enliveningprogressive
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had been enliveningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enliven
1625–35; obsolete enlive to give life to ( en- 1 + life ) + -en 1
Explanation
High school students who are throwing a dance in the gym might enliven it with balloons and streamers. In other words, they might try to cheer the room up. When you enliven something, you make it more lively, colorful, or exciting. Your friend who is the life of the party can probably be counted on to enliven the dullest gathering, and a sprinkle of curry powder can enliven a dish of plain roasted vegetables. The original meaning of enliven, from the seventeenth century, was literally "to bring to life," as when a doctor re-starts a patient's stopped heartbeat.
Vocabulary lists containing enliven
The Return of the King
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Encourage
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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.
See Examples For:
A complex cider with enough of a tart kick to enliven any cocktail hour.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 25, 2025
There’s also a petite variety in a 2-inch pot designed to enliven an office desk without taking up too much space.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
His impact was almost instant, first going past the outside edge of Jaiswal to enliven the crowd.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2025
If you’re looking to enliven jarred sauce or some plain tomato puree, you can never go wrong with enriching the latent flavors.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2025
So far, there had not been one tree to enliven the view.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
But Erica Ford, as a cross-dressing game poacher and archer-in-disguise named Ralph, provides the kind of character and performance that delivers new blood and enlivens an old story.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
A great glaze enrobes and enlivens the meat.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025
Casting is, unambiguously, an art form, one that enlivens the page and fleshes out drama.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
Seattle Pride enlivens the city once again this June during the 49th annual Pride Month celebrations.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 1, 2023
Fleming, seventy- one, a former mayor of Garden City, a short man who enlivens an unsensational appearance with rather conspicuous neckwear, resisted the assignment.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
As we near the end we get to a full account of the game itself, enlivened by quotes the players gave after the fact, and followed by chronicles of what befell the participants after 1933.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Those concepts interlace in his ossuary, enlivened when he plays his tenderly kept records, remnants of human joy all but lost to a Rage pestilence.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2026
Henry's "very gregarious" nature enlivened the darker days of last winter in the workshop.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025
Whereas many of his other urban landscapes, filled with stick figures, are enlivened by a white background, this one is not.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
At least Frank Millet still seemed strong and healthy and full of the earthy good humor that had so enlivened the long nights during the fair’s construction.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
The crowds were a welcome boon for the bartenders, enlivening what is usually a lull at Joxer Daly’s, which is away from the beaches and beer gardens where customers gather in the summer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Not surprisingly, massed strings play a defining role, with well-integrated keyboard parts enlivening the musical landscape.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
His cameos as Blazes Boylan, jitterbugging across the stage with the self-satisfied air of a country rake, were not just enlivening but renewing, capturing the character in a new idiom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2025
Years ago, when Ms. Frazier had finished a clinical internship in a dimly lit, windowless office, she realized that she needed a “more enlivening setting” — for her clients and for herself.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
Opposing them were the Plutonists, who noted that volcanoes and earthquakes, among other enlivening agents, continually changed the face of the planet but clearly owed nothing to wayward seas.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
