Meaning & use
lift your spirits
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Meaning
phraseidiom
To make someone feel happier, more hopeful or less discouraged after a bad time.
Grammar: Takes a possessive: the news lifted his spirits. Spirits is plural here, and there is no object after it.
Patterns
- something lifts your spirits
- lift someone's spirits
A walk in the sunshine always lifts my spirits.
The coach told a joke to lift the team's spirits after the defeat.
Her phone call lifted his spirits more than any medicine.
Word forms
| third person singular | lifts your spirits |
|---|---|
| past tense | lifted your spirits |
| -ing form | lifting your spirits |
Common combinations
- instantly lift your spirits
- A bright yellow scarf can instantly lift your spirits on a gray day.
- lift the spirits of the team
- The surprise win lifted the spirits of the whole team.
- something to lift your spirits
- I need something to lift my spirits after this week.
- lift your spirits with music
- He lifts his spirits with music when he feels low.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cheer up
- Cheer up can be used directly as an order or request, while lift your spirits describes the effect on a mood in a gentler way.
- boost your mood
- Boost your mood is more modern and clinical, focusing on mood rather than the old idea of spirits.
- hearten
- Hearten is rarer and more formal, and suggests restoring courage as well as happiness.
- perk up
- Perk up suggests a quick, lively change in energy, often in the person themselves.
Opposites
Word family
- spirits noun
- a person's mood or emotional state
- uplifting adjective
- making you feel happier
- upliftment noun
- the act of making someone feel more cheerful
- high-spirited adjective
- lively and cheerful
Commonly confused: lift your spirits or raise your spirits?
lift your spirits vs raise your spirits
This is a close variant with the same meaning; 'lift' is slightly more common in everyday speech.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'lift your spirits' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The idiom needs the plural noun 'spirits' and a direct possessive. The singular form is unnatural here, and the other options break the grammar.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lift your spirits”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.