illuminate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to supply or brighten with light; light up.
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to make lucid or clear; throw light on (a subject).
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to decorate with lights, as in celebration.
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to enlighten, as with knowledge.
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to make resplendent or illustrious.
A smile illuminated her face.
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to decorate (a manuscript, book, etc.) with colors and gold or silver, as was often done in the Middle Ages.
verb (used without object)
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to display lights, as in celebration.
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to become illuminated.
adjective
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Archaic. illuminated.
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Obsolete. enlightened.
noun
verb
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(tr) to throw light in or into; light up
to illuminate a room
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(tr) to make easily understood; clarify
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to adorn, decorate, or be decorated with lights
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(tr) to decorate (a letter, page, etc) by the application of colours, gold, or silver
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(intr) to become lighted up
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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illuminatornoun
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reilluminateverb
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preilluminateverb (used with object)
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illuminativeadjective
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semi-illuminatedadjective
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unilluminatedadjective
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illuminatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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illuminatesimple
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illuminatessimple
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have illuminatedperfect
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has illuminatedperfect
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am illuminatingprogressive
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are illuminatingprogressive
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is illuminatingprogressive
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have been illuminatingperfect progressive
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has been illuminatingperfect progressive
Past
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illuminatedsimple
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had illuminatedperfect
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was illuminatingprogressive
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were illuminatingprogressive
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had been illuminatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of illuminate
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin illūminātus, past participle of illūmināre “to light up, brighten”; see illumine ( def. ), -ate 1 ( def. )
Explanation
To illuminate is to light up — with physical light or with an idea. A spotlight might illuminate an actor on stage, and a good chemistry teacher might illuminate students with a lesson on the atomic structure of hydrogen. Originally, the verb illuminate referred to decorating handwritten manuscripts with bright lettering or pictures. Monks illuminated manuscripts with colors like gold, silver, bright red, and blue. Nowadays you can illuminate anything in the dark — either literally or figuratively. If you are afraid of the dark, illuminate your bedroom. In the dark when it comes to organic chemistry? Get an illuminating tutor.
Vocabulary lists containing illuminate
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Let There Be Light: Lum and Luc
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 4
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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:
The documents also illuminate a glaring contrast between the training of Marines and that of immigration agents, who have been accused repeatedly of using unnecessary force against peaceful protesters, bystanders and immigrants during enforcement operations.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
"There is a pressing need for well-designed research projects in humans, utilising labelled creatine to generate relevant data and illuminate the grey areas of our knowledge about these compounds," Dr. Boroujerdi explains.
From Science Daily ● May 4, 2026
May's full Moon is set to illuminate the night sky on Friday 1 May.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
"Offering a powerful reflection of our world, the winners illuminate the realities we face globally; marked by fracture, urgency and yet an innate resilience," according to the World Press Photo statement.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
The bright streetlamps on the town’s main drag illuminate empty parking.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
The setting sun illuminates the bottoms of those clouds and creates the beautiful sunsets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
With an incredible cast, including Lesley Manville, Kevin Doyle and Lorraine Ashbourne, it is deeply moving drama that illuminates the personal price of social divisions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
As the afternoon sunshine pours in through a stained-glass window, it illuminates a century-old design of a man dribbling a football across a pitch.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
While we’re on the topic of Brin and Lake Tahoe, let me share another early anecdote that illuminates the mindset I’m referring to, and that I wrote about way back in 1999.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026
Light, the deep purple of the ocean and a reminder of the Pleiades Corporation, illuminates a stairwell spiraling downward into darkness.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Responding to the demand, Mayor Zohran Mamdani -- a passionate Arsenal supporter -- has announced five free, illuminated pitches open overnight across the city for the duration of the tournament.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
His images conjure illuminated manuscripts, textiles, hieroglyphics, board games, musical scores, and tribal and children’s art, while echoing the structures of animals, crystals, plants and cells.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
The experiments showed that the shape of the illuminated area is what matters most.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026
At the top of the set's illuminated stairs she would forget her steps.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
The church with the stained-glass windows was illuminated from the inside, which gave the building an ethereal look.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
A sensible reflex, but it also means the long-awaited payoff never quite materializes—an underwhelming finish to an otherwise engaging and illuminating argument.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
These are often bound up under one general heading of "polarisation", but it's been illuminating to unpack them.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Judging by the smiles and charmed looks on shoppers’ faces, her produce-inspired candles are less about illuminating rooms and more about sharing the joy she sought when she first started the company in 2018.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
This is going to be painful in ways that you can’t foresee, but if you remain adaptable and empathetic, you could be embarking on an illuminating chapter of your life.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
Here, the results of recent molecular biological studies are illuminating in linking germs to the rise of food production, in Eurasia much more than in the Americas.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
