Meaning & use

enlightening

adjective·Academic

Giving greater knowledge or understanding about a subject; informative and clarifying.

See it in a sentence

The documentary was enlightening, revealing facts about the ocean we never knew.

Her lecture on ancient trade routes proved genuinely enlightening for the whole class.

A note on using this word

Reserve "enlightening" for experiences that meaningfully deepen understanding, rather than for merely interesting or entertaining ones.

Words with a similar meaning

informativeilluminating

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

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