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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.

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Its narrative offers few character sketches, jumps around in time and digresses into subjects that distract more than they enlighten.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026

I can give Bill something that people don’t understand and progress the story and maybe enlighten people.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 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

“There is much you do not know. Things best not discussed here, where anyone can hear. If-you hold your tongue, I may enlighten you.”

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

There's not a lot of focus on music that enlightens people, and that carries over to other products as well.

From Salon ● Jun. 17, 2023

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

When she volunteers to attend what she thinks will be a placid demonstration against coal mining, another member enlightens her: “We don’t really do protests. … We do direct action.”

From New York Times ● May 16, 2019

I will read further, searching until I find an explanation that enlightens me.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

Or should the seemingly enlightened Norwegians be more understanding?

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Long have well-meaning, enlightened Westerners assumed that the liberal values regnant in their democracies would arrest any attempt to revive antisemitism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

When you see a really good player, that’s a rara avis — an enlightened individual.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

In some caves where enlightened paradise is depicted, it’s utopic: singers and dancers prancing in revelry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

“Oho? English schoolboys in our enlightened 1980s cannot read a book in a foreign language?”

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

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

On a positive note, the column provoked a new and enlightening round of discussion among economists about the scale, causes and consequences of the widening divergence between American and European prosperity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

But the Glass year is already officially underway with two curiously enlightening projects this month.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

Similarly, whenever I used to think a conversation I’d had with someone was especially funny or enlightening, I would jot it down in my notebook, the same one I kept my book titles in.

From "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley


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