Meaning & use
lifting spirits
Last updated
“lifting spirits” is a form of “lift spirits”.
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
Making someone feel happier or more hopeful.
Grammar: Often used as a continuous action: 'The news is lifting spirits.' It can also be a noun phrase: 'the lifting of spirits'.
Patterns
- lifting someone's spirits
- lifting spirits
The sunny weather is lifting spirits across the city.
Her kind words had a way of lifting spirits in the office.
Volunteering at the shelter was lifting spirits for everyone involved.
Common combinations
- lifting everyone's spirits
- The surprise party ended up lifting everyone's spirits.
- a way of lifting spirits
- Music has a way of lifting spirits.
- lifting spirits after bad news
- They focused on lifting spirits after the bad news.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cheering up
- This is more informal and often used for one person: 'cheering him up' rather than 'lifting spirits'.
- encouraging
- This focuses on giving confidence, while 'lifting spirits' focuses on making people feel happier.
Opposites
Word family
Practice
The good news had the effect of ______ everyone's spirits.
Choose one answer.
'Lifting spirits' is the fixed phrase for making people happier. 'Raising' is possible but less idiomatic; 'rising' and 'arising' are intransitive and do not take an object.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lifting spirits”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.