Meaning & use
uplift
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Meanings
verbtransitiveformal
To make someone feel happier, more hopeful or more confident.
Grammar: Takes an object: the music uplifted the crowd.
Patterns
- uplift someone
- uplift someone's spirits
The choir's singing uplifted everyone in the hall.
A kind letter from a friend can uplift a lonely person.
The team's win uplifted the whole town.
nouncountable or uncountable
A rise in someone's mood, or an increase or improvement in a situation, amount or standing.
Grammar: As a noun the stress moves to the first syllable (UP-lift); often a pay uplift in British English.
Patterns
- an uplift in something
- give someone an uplift
The new park gave the neighborhood a real uplift.
Staff received a two percent pay uplift this spring.
The sunny weather brought an uplift in everyone's mood.
noununcountabletechnical
The slow rising of a part of the earth's surface, such as land or mountains, over time.
Grammar: Geological use; usually followed by of: the uplift of the plateau.
Patterns
- the uplift of something
Geologists link the mountain range to the uplift of the crust.
The uplift of the coastline exposed old beaches high above the sea.
Slow tectonic uplift raised the plateau over millions of years.
Word forms
| third person singular | uplifts |
|---|---|
| past tense | uplifted |
| past participle | uplifted |
| -ing form | uplifting |
Common combinations
- uplift spirits
- A little humor can uplift spirits during a long meeting.
- uplift a community
- The charity works to uplift the community through education.
- pay uplift
- Nurses were promised a pay uplift.
- economic uplift
- The new factory brought an economic uplift to the region.
- tectonic uplift
- Tectonic uplift formed the high plateau.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lift
- Lift is the plain everyday word and is used for physical raising, while uplift is more formal and aimed at feelings.
- inspire
- Inspire stresses stirring someone to act or create, whereas uplift stresses simply making them feel better.
- cheer up
- Cheer up is informal and often temporary, while uplift suggests a deeper, longer-lasting lift.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: uplift or upheaval?
uplift vs upheaval
Upheaval means a sudden, violent disturbance or upset, which is almost the opposite of the gentle raising that uplift suggests.
Practice
The principal hoped the assembly would ___ the students after the difficult exam week.
Choose one answer.
Uplift means to raise spirits. Uphold means to support a rule or decision, and upset and upend would worsen the mood or disturb things.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “uplift”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.