What does lighten mean?
Lighten means to make something less heavy, burdensome, severe, or intense. The word is especially useful when discussing physical weight, as in lightening a load or a burden, but it is also commonly applied to emotional and social situations: a joke can lighten the mood, while careful planning can lighten a difficult workload. It can also describe making a colour or effect brighter, as in lightening a shade of blue. In the intransitive use, lighten refers to becoming less heavy or less oppressive, often in response to a change in circumstances. Although the verb preserves the basic idea of the older word 'light', meaning not heavy, its modern uses often concern the figurative burden of a task, problem, or mood.
verbTo make something less heavy, burdensome, or severe. It can also mean to make something brighter or less intense.
- To make something less heavy or easier to carry.
- To reduce the severity, difficulty, or emotional weight of a situation.
- To make a colour, sound, or visual effect less intense or brighter.
- To become lighter or less burdensome.
"The new design lightened the burden on the team and improved the overall experience."
"Removing the unnecessary files helped lighten the project."
"A little humour can lighten an otherwise tense meeting."
To lighten a load is to reduce what you carry; to lighten the mood is to make a situation feel less heavy.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does lighten come from?
The modern verb is formed from the English word 'light' together with the suffix '-en'. The underlying adjective descends from Old English 'lēoht', meaning bright or not heavy, with a long history in Germanic languages. The verbal use developed alongside the adjective, extending the idea of reduced weight to the figurative sense of reducing a burden or easing a situation.
Related word forms
How lighten is actually used
The word is common in both formal and informal contexts. It can be transitive, as in 'lighten the load', or intransitive, as in 'Her mood lightened when she heard the news'.
Easily confused with lighten
To lighten something is to make it less heavy, burdensome, or intense, whereas to brighten it is specifically to make it brighter or more cheerful.