Definition of "lighten" []

To make light or lighter; illuminate or brighten. (verb-transitive)
To make (a color) lighter. (verb-transitive)
Archaic To enlighten. (verb-transitive)
To become lighter; brighten. (verb-intransitive)
To be luminous; shine. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "lighten" in a sentence

"The response entitled lighten folks may well be right."
"Just as depictions of emaciated models can encourage eating disorders and other dangerous practices in young women, so too can the impetus to "lighten" one's implicitly offensive and unwelcomed skin tone impact the mental and physical wellbeing of people of color."
"The artists said Lane promptly requested that they literally go back to the drawing board and whiten (or more politely "lighten") the face of the African-American student."

Words like "lighten"

alleviate alter brighten change cheer

cheer up chirk up descend disburden enlighten

exhilarate illuminate light lighten up lightened

lightening lightens mitigate modify unburden