Word a Day
brighten
What does brighten mean?
brighten (verb): make more cheerful through the use of color.
Definition: Princeton WordNet 3.1.
How do you use brighten in a sentence?
- The paint will brighten the room. (Princeton WordNet 3.1)
How do you pronounce brighten?
/ˈbɹaɪtən/ (IPA, American English). The app reads every word aloud.
Where does brighten come from?
Inherited from Northern Middle English brightin, from Northumbrian Old English berhtnian.
Etymology: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Test yourself: do you know “brighten”?
Tap an answer to check it. The same questions the app asks.
What does “brighten” mean?
make more intense, stronger, or more marked
Not quite: that's what compound means.
make more cheerful through the use of color
Right! That's what “brighten” means.
to afflict with a disease or other calamity
Not quite: that's what plague means.
be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
Not quite: that's what insist means.
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