brighten
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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brightens,
present (3rd person singular)
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brightened,
past participle, past
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brightening
present participle
verb
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to make or become bright or brighter
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to make or become cheerful
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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brightensimple
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brightenssimple
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have brightenedperfect
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has brightenedperfect
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am brighteningprogressive
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are brighteningprogressive
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is brighteningprogressive
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have been brighteningperfect progressive
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has been brighteningperfect progressive
Past
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brightenedsimple
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had brightenedperfect
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was brighteningprogressive
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were brighteningprogressive
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had been brighteningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of brighten
First recorded in 1250–1300, brighten is from the Middle English word brightnen. See bright, -en 1
Explanation
To brighten is to make something lighter, the way you brighten your back yard with glowing patio lights or brighten up your gloomy bedroom by painting the walls yellow. When the sun comes out after several rainy days, it brightens your house and the walk to school, but it can also brighten your mood. This verb is perfect for both ways of making things light and cheerful — adding something that emits light or lending a happy or hopeful mood to a situation. Your best friend may be so funny and positive that they brighten a room just by walking in.
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:
Jordan sewed sage green curtains to conceal additional storage spaces and further brighten the space.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
There’s no sign that appearances will soon brighten.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026
In a tribute the extended family of five-year-old Nala said "her smile could brighten the darkest day"
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
The olive brine acts almost like a finishing seasoning, bringing acidity and salinity that brighten the entire dish.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
And then he smiled that smile of his that always seemed to brighten the day up a little bit.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
“It kind of brightens the day a little bit because it’s just so random.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
A pinch of sea salt in a sweet bowl doesn’t just make it taste “better”—it deepens everything, sharpens the butter, brightens the fruit, makes the brown sugar taste like caramel instead of syrup.
From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2025
The picture brightens for small U.S. stocks, which have an expected real return of 4.8%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025
Each fall, the Taurid meteor shower brightens the night sky from late October through early November.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2025
Then Mom brightens and says, “How’s the food, Maisie?”
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
Gillian Jones said she liked it and it "brightened her day".
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
As her success blossomed, Kusama’s fiberglass sculptures of flowers and pumpkins got bigger, her palette brightened and her installations became more kaleidoscopic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Her work focused on periods when the galaxy's X-ray output brightened in flares and on how the X-ray signal evolved in the hours afterward.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2026
It will arrive after a fairly quiet year for IPOs that was brightened last week when Cerebras Systems, a Sunnyvale company that makes semiconductors for AI supercomputers, went public.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
“Not at all,” he replied; “they were brightened by the exercise.”
From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
A street artist known as the "Minion Man" has turned his attention to brightening up his area's dirty and vandalised street cabinets.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Already, the technical picture for stocks is brightening, signaling that the rebound in chip stocks and the broader momentum factor seen this week might continue, Kettern wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
The researchers expected marine cloud brightening to influence the climate, but not to this extent.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 3, 2026
Despite the uneven distribution of economic gains across sectors, receding risks of an energy-driven inflation crisis are brightening the outlook for South Korea, which is benefiting from unabated demand for AI-related products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Clara said suddenly, her form brightening, coming into crisp focus.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
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.
