make light of

verb

To regard without due seriousness; to joke about.

“I wish you wouldn't make light of the matter, when it obviously means a great deal to him.”

Similar
take lightly
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbmake light of (third-person singular simple present makes light of, present participle making light of, simple past and past participle made light of)

present singular third person makes light of · participle present making light of · participle past made light of · past made light of

  1. idiomaticTo regard without due seriousness; to joke about.

    I wish you wouldn't make light of the matter, when it obviously means a great deal to him.

    2 more examples

    It was also a satisfying night for England coach Capello. Not only did he have a vital victory to celebrate, but his team selection was fully justified as Cahill gave an almost flawless performance in defence and Scott Parker's display made light of the surprising exclusion of Frank Lampard.

    2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC

    Messages accessed as part of inquiry show politicians also appeared to make light of cases[.]

    2023 March 9, Angela Giuffrida, “Revealed: Italian leaders tried to protect country’s image at start of pandemic”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

    Synonyms: take lightly

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo regard without due seriousness; to joke about.

Similar
take lightly
Also see
belittlede-emphasizedenigratedeprecatemake a joke oftake lightlyunderestimate

Origin

From Make light work of.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic اِسْتَخَفَّ, اِسْتَهَانَ
  • اِسْتَخَفَّ (istaḵaffa)regard without due seriousness
  • اِسْتَهَانَ (istahāna)regard without due seriousness
Chinese Mandarin 輕視 /轻视, 無視 /无视
  • 輕視 /轻视 (qīngshì)regard without due seriousness
  • 無視 /无视 (wúshì)regard without due seriousness
Danish tage let på
  • tage let påregard without due seriousness
Esperanto trakti malserioze
  • trakti malseriozeregard without due seriousness
Finnish suhtautua kevyesti
  • suhtautua kevyestiregard without due seriousness
French prendre à la légère
  • prendre à la légèreregard without due seriousness
German nicht allzu ernst nehmen, sich nicht viel machen aus
  • nicht allzu ernst nehmenregard without due seriousness
  • sich nicht viel machen ausregard without due seriousness
  • auf die leichte Schulter nehmenregard without due seriousness
Italian infischiarsene, minimizzare
  • infischiarseneregard without due seriousness
  • minimizzareregard without due seriousness
Japanese 侮る, 舐める
  • 侮る (anadoru)regard without due seriousness
  • 舐める (nameru)regard without due seriousness
Norwegian Bokmål ta lett på
  • ta lett påregard without due seriousness
Polish lekceważyć, zlekceważyć
  • lekceważyćregard without due seriousness
  • zlekceważyćregard without due seriousness
Portuguese fazer pouco caso
  • fazer pouco casoregard without due seriousness
Spanish minimizar, restar importancia
  • minimizarregard without due seriousness
  • restar importanciaregard without due seriousness
  • frivolizarregard without due seriousness
Swedish ta lätt på
  • ta lätt påregard without due seriousness
Cite this entry
APA

make light of. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20light%20of

MLA

“make light of.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20light%20of. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “make light of,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20light%20of.

Source: make light of on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.