Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Showing results for enlighten. Search instead for eingeweichten.
Definitions

enlighten

[en-lahyt-n] / ɛnˈlaɪt n /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Some of those eagerly sought to enlighten their charges, while a few others grew to see – or claimed to see – an unbridgeable chasm between the ivory tower and mass cultural aspiration.

From Salon Apr. 19, 2026

When you get a varied body of work, it can enlighten your own life in a way, and that’s a great feeling.

From The Wall Street Journal Jan. 17, 2026

So can you enlighten us as to the great wisdom Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito share in their own concurrences?

From Slate Jun. 18, 2025

"I think in the spirit of the bikers, Dave would want me to continue to have fun and to educate, to inform, to enlighten, to be slightly edgy," he says.

From BBC Dec. 6, 2024

I have read your letters to poor Lucy, and know how good you are and how your husband suffer; so I pray you, if it may be, enlighten him not, lest it may harm.

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker

The deeply felt elegance of Dandridge’s rendition of “Send in the Clowns” enlightens, even if belatedly, Hayden’s Fredrik, who grows in gravitas and, therefore, appeal.

From Los Angeles Times May 2, 2023

What it shows us, what it leaves out and which important opportunities it misses are more concerning, all of which are why this hour disappoints more than it enlightens or activate the viewer.

From Salon Nov. 21, 2021

Poverty casts a dark shadow, while love enlightens the ambience.

From Seattle Times Nov. 27, 2019

Must-see TV: When They See Us, Ava DuVernay’s miniseries about the lives at the heart of the Central Park Five, informs and enlightens audiences—but as Willa Paskin reviews, entertainment is not its core purpose.

From Slate May 30, 2019

“You are like he was,” Keith enlightens me, “and just like him, you were most likely to die the same way—a quarter of what you could have been....”

From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak

Every decision it makes about the pace and composition of new issuance, and every decision about whether to retire or not retire existing issues, is a legitimate choice made under enlightened self-interest.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 28, 2026

You know, if everybody has the same idea and the same belief, we’re never going to learn anything, we’re never going to be enlightened to anything beyond ourselves.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 2, 2026

“Are our moneyed men less enlightened to their own interest, or less enterprising in the pursuit?,” the future Treasury secretary wrote External link in 1780.

From Barron's Jun. 17, 2026

Quite poorly educated, quite easily misled, perhaps less than enlightened.

From Salon Jun. 15, 2026

His father, King Sobhuza, was an enlightened traditional leader and also a member of the ANC.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

This columnist’s three years in the trenches were the toughest yet most enlightening three years of my career.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 23, 2026

Nevertheless, it’s an enlightening read in light of how dramatically war has changed in the last two-and-a-half centuries.

From Salon Jul. 4, 2026

"Together, these records offer a more complex and enlightening account of the Revolution, showing how its consequences were felt far beyond the Thirteen Colonies," Cunningham added.

From Barron's Jun. 22, 2026

While Mr. Swaim’s interview is otherwise enlightening, a few aspects of Eastern Orthodoxy require clarification.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 19, 2026

"Intelligence is essentially a banal trade of sifting through huge amounts of random information in a search for a single enlightening gem or illuminating link," he wrote.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau




Vocabulary lists containing enlighten


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training