as in to stimulate
to give life, vigor, or spirit to
in most instances it's a good idea to enliven a speech with a joke or two
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Recent Examples of enliven
In a nice touch, narrow cracks filled with sculptural metal and glass filter daylight inside beautifully and help enliven the uniform material palette.
—
New Atlas, 29 Dec. 2025
All of the pastas are made in-house and include spaghetti tossed with crab meat and lobster cream or rigatoni in creamy vodka sauce enlivened with a punch of Calabrian chiles and plenty of garlic.
—Usa Today Network, USA Today, 19 Dec. 2025
All of the pastas are made in-house and include spaghetti tossed with crab meat and lobster cream or rigatoni in creamy vodka sauce enlivened with a punch of Calabrian chiles and plenty of garlic.
—Amanda Hancock, Louisville Courier Journal, 12 Dec. 2025
But Hitt has a special skill for enlivening the archive, and its gaps.
—Literary Hub, 11 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for enliven
New Atlas, 29 Dec. 2025
All of the pastas are made in-house and include spaghetti tossed with crab meat and lobster cream or rigatoni in creamy vodka sauce enlivened with a punch of Calabrian chiles and plenty of garlic.
—Usa Today Network, USA Today, 19 Dec. 2025
All of the pastas are made in-house and include spaghetti tossed with crab meat and lobster cream or rigatoni in creamy vodka sauce enlivened with a punch of Calabrian chiles and plenty of garlic.
—Amanda Hancock, Louisville Courier Journal, 12 Dec. 2025
But Hitt has a special skill for enlivening the archive, and its gaps.
—Literary Hub, 11 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for enliven
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enliven
stimulate
Verb
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Then, they are manually placed on Multi Electrode Arrays (MEAs), a grid of tiny electrodes on a biocompatible substrate chip that records and stimulates neurons using 32 electrodes grouped into four sets of eight.—
Matthew S Williams,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
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To wit, lymphatic brushes join the ranks of depuffing tools like gua shas, face rollers, and dry brushes; most working to stimulate lymphatic drainage, your body’s natural detoxification process.—
Emily Orofino,
Vogue,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Enliven.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enliven. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.
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