lighten up

Idioms  

1. Become or cause to become less serious or gloomy, and more cheerful. For example, Lighten up, Sam—it'll turn out all right. This slangy expression transfers reducing a physical weight to a change of mood or attitude.

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Example Sentences

If individual investors and large institutions collectively decide to lighten up on their dollars, it will leave a mark.

From Barron's

So I started to live by this, I started to lighten up.”

From MarketWatch

But Owen had been so busy clowning around to get George to lighten up that he’d forgotten to grab the shotgun from the snowmobile.

From Literature

I felt as if I were gazing into the future: Aunt Kitty looked like a cranky old matron, which was exactly what she was headed for if she didn’t start to lighten up.

From Literature

Or did the embrace of “Rocky” and “Jaws” mean that audiences wanted their movies to lighten up?

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• acquiesce
• capitulate
• cave in
• come around
• comply
• ease off
• give in
• give up
• let go
• quit
• relax
• slacken
• soften
• subside