heighten

[ hahyt-n ]

/ ˈhaɪt n /

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See synonyms for: heighten / heightened / heightening on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to increase the height of; make higher.

to increase the degree or amount of; augment: Cézanne's death heightened the value of his paintings.

to strengthen, deepen, or intensify: to heighten the plot of a story; to heighten one's awareness or appreciation; to heighten one's suffering.

to bring out the important features of, as in a drawing: to heighten a picture with Chinese white.

verb (used without object)

to become higher.

to increase: The tension heightened as the enemy forces advanced.

to brighten or become more intense.

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On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.

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Origin of heighten

First recorded in 1515–25; height + -en¹

synonym study for heighten

1. See elevate.

OTHER WORDS FROM heighten

height·en·er, nounun·height·ened, adjective

How to use heighten in a sentence

It was precisely the kind of wildland-urban interface that all the studies I read blamed for heightening Californians’ exposure to climate risks.
Climate Change Will Force a New American Migration|by Abrahm Lustgarten, photography by Meridith Kohut|September 15, 2020|ProPublica
Without the law, new internet companies would have more difficulty getting aloft, while established platforms would block many more posts in response to heightened litigation risks.
Why the most controversial US internet law is worth saving|Amy Nordrum|September 9, 2020|MIT Technology Review
I think they’ve handled this moment with a lot of grace and dignity, and it is heightening awareness of the need to stick with solutions.
Why Jeb Bush Admires Andrew Yang|Nick Fouriezos|September 8, 2020|Ozy
The roll-out heightens Walmart’s competition with Amazon as retailers of all types try to capitalize on soaring consumer interest in e-commerce during the pandemic.
Walmart’s Amazon Prime challenger is launching Sept. 15|radmarya|September 1, 2020|Fortune

Amid concerns over police brutality and pandemic-heightened economic anxiety, cities have seen scattered outbreaks of violence and looting in recent months.
Sunday Magazine: A World in Need|Daniel Malloy|August 16, 2020|Ozy
For Kirke it was being paid to pretend to play the oboe that heightened her affair with classical music.
‘Mozart in the Jungle’: Inside Amazon’s Brave New World of Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music|Kevin Fallon|December 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She stands, dressed in a tutu, on one pointed foot in a heightened fifth position.
Revealing The Unseen Picasso|Justin Jones|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is an extreme, heightened set-up, I say: the whole hostage-taking, life-imperiled prolog.
Sex, Blood, and Screaming: Blackout’s Dark Frights|Tim Teeman|October 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Mossad high command must surely be convening emergency meetings in an atmosphere of tension and heightened alertness.
Mossad’s Greatest Female Assassin: An Excerpt From ‘Sylvia Rafael’|Ram Oren,   Moti Kfir|September 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The memo, citing a heightened security threat, said that the attacks were scheduled for July 25, 2014.
Obama’s ‘Yemen Model’ for the War on ISIS Is a Wreck|Shuaib Almosawa|September 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The change was visible in his heightened colour, in his flashing eyes, and in his twitching mustachios.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
As I turn to her, I am struck by the peculiar gleam in her eyes and the heightened color.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
“I shall like it of all things,” he cried, with sparkling eyes and heightened colour.
The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands|R.M. Ballantyne
Facing Mildred, whose color was heightened by the intensity of her emotion, he began softly to play.
The Fifth String |John Philip Sousa
But the airs which he gave himself only heightened the respect and admiration which he inspired.
The History of England from the Accession of James II.|Thomas Babington Macaulay

British Dictionary definitions for heighten

heighten

/ (ˈhaɪtən) /

verb

to make or become high or higher

to make or become more extreme or intense

Derived forms of heighten

heightened, adjectiveheightener, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

heighten

Origin of heighten

synonym study for heighten

OTHER WORDS FROM heighten

Words related to heighten

How to use heighten in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for heighten

Derived forms of heighten