enliven

E1N1L1I1V4E1N1
UK/ɛnˈlaɪvən/

verb

To give life or spirit to; to revive or animate.

“The game was much enlivened when both teams scored within five minutes of each other.”

Meanings

verbenliven (third-person singular simple present enlivens, present participle enlivening, simple past and past participle enlivened)

present singular third person enlivens · participle present enlivening · participle past enlivened · past enlivened

  1. archaictransitiveTo give life or spirit to; to revive or animate.

    Synonyms: inspirit, invigorate, quicken, vitalise, vivify

  2. transitiveTo make more lively, cheerful or interesting.

    The game was much enlivened when both teams scored within five minutes of each other.

    2 more examples

    Travel is enlivened not only by the mixed company of French, Berbers, Arabs, and descendants of the Mediterranean-Corsairs who sit together indiscriminately, but also by itinerant vendors of macaroons, sweetmeats and the like, who, as long as they have a travel ticket, ply their wares unhindered by the [ticket] collectors.

    1950 May, “A Tunisian Electric Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 335

    The pace came off the match as the first half continued, with the occasional frenetic moment down the flanks enlivening what otherwise became a chess-like tactical battle.

    2023 August 7, Kieran Pender, “Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso fire Australia into quarter-finals with win over Denmark”, in The Guardian

    Synonyms: cheer up, liven, liven up, quicken

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo give life or spirit to; to revive or animate.

verbTo make more lively, cheerful or interesting.

More synonyms by meaning

verbheighten or intensify

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Bulgarian оживявам, съживявам
  • оживявам (oživjavam)to make more lively
  • съживявам (săživjavam)to make more lively
Czech oživit
  • oživitto make more lively
Finnish elävöittää, vilkastuttaa
  • elävöittääto make more lively
  • vilkastuttaato make more lively
Irish beoigh
  • beoighto make more lively
Māori whakawana, whakahihiko
  • whakawanato make more lively
  • whakahihikoto make more lively
  • whakaharito make more lively
Portuguese avivar
  • avivarto make more lively
Romanian înviora
  • înviorato make more lively
Russian оживля́ть, оживи́ть
  • оживля́ть (oživljátʹ)to make more lively
  • оживи́ть (oživítʹ)to make more lively
Scottish Gaelic beothaich
  • beothaichto make more lively
Spanish avivar, amenizar
  • avivarto make more lively
  • amenizarto make more lively
  • animarto make more lively
Swedish liva upp
  • liva uppto make more lively

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with enliven

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

enliven. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enliven

MLA

“enliven.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enliven. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “enliven,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enliven.

Source: enliven on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.