Uplifting

How to spell uplifting

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce uplifting

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does uplifting mean?

1. adjectiveMaking someone feel more cheerful, hopeful, or morally encouraged.

Uplifting in a sentence

• The choir performed an uplifting song that left the whole audience smiling.

• She found the recovery stories in the magazine genuinely uplifting.

Where does uplifting come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the verb 'uplift', a straightforward joining of the Old English prefix 'up', meaning 'upward', with the verb 'lift'. The verb 'lift' itself entered English from Old Norse 'lypta', meaning 'to raise into the air', which is closely related to the word 'loft'; Norse-speaking settlers brought it into northern England during the Viking age. From around the 1300s 'uplift' meant simply to raise something physically, but by the 1800s it had taken on a strong figurative sense of raising the spirits, the mind, or the moral tone. The present participle 'uplifting' then settled into use as an adjective describing anything that boosts mood or morale. Because the spelling is just three familiar pieces stacked together, the only thing to watch is keeping the single 'f' before 't' and the standard '-ing' ending.

How the word is built

• up- (up, upward)
• lift (raise)
• -ing (adjective/participle suffix)