perking (up)

verb

present participle of perk (up)
1
as in brightening
to become glad or hopeful we perked up once the sun came out

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in lifting
to move from a lower to a higher place or position the dog tilts her head and perks up her ears whenever someone speaks to her

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for perking (up)
  1. brightening
  2. lifting
  3. looking up
  4. raising
  5. glowing
  6. taking up
  7. elevating
Verb
  • Sabrina Carpenter posted a photo on Instagram of her makeup and featured the Make Beauty Skin Mimetic Concealer, a brightening concealer used by Courteney Cox and Hailey Bieber.
    — Reece Andavolgyi, InStyle, 28 June 2026
  • If your grout isn't horrendous with dirt or stains, this might be a great cleaner for brightening the lines.
    — Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 25 June 2026
Definition of brightening
Verb
  • Proponents say the workout’s minimal movements, like short sets of squats and lifting light weights, leave them with soreness but also increase their muscle.
    — Diana Anos, CNN Money, 3 July 2026
  • This mission will attempt to place a batch of CubeSats into orbit after lifting off from Andøya Spaceport in Norway.
    — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 3 July 2026
Definition of lifting
Verb
  • Shortly after giving his team a temporary lead on Monday, the athlete put his hands over his face before looking up at the sky and pointing upward, as shown in a video shared by Fox Sports.
    — Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 30 June 2026
  • Stannard remembers lying on the pavement and looking up at the blue sky, not yet feeling any pain, and realizing that he’d actually been hit.
    — Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 2026
Definition of looking up
Verb
  • But a fresh start comes with plenty of new challenges — from rival ranchers and relentless cattle work to the unexpected trials of raising their teenage son, Carter (Finn Little).
    — Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026
  • SpaceX went public in June, raising roughly $75 billion in the largest IPO on record.
    — Luke Fountain,Justin Papp, CNBC, 3 July 2026
Definition of raising
Verb
  • In February 2004, Hargitay was glowing alongside Hermann at the Writers Guild Awards.
    — Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 6 July 2026
  • While the show continued as scheduled, spectators could only see colors glowing through the marine fog.
    — Evgenia Anastasakos, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
Definition of glowing
Verb
  • Much was spoken about the positions Ronaldo was taking up in their opening game, often keeping himself offside when DR Congo pushed up the pitch.
    — Mark Carey, New York Times, 2 July 2026
  • Rather than having cluttered and mismatched products taking up precious space, Hamid recommends unifying products.
    — Stephanie Osmanski, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 June 2026
Definition of taking up
Verb
  • The squad has won four matches in a row, elevating it for the first time in four decades to the competition’s round of 16.
    — Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2026
  • Since the Wright Brothers first took flight in 1903, the aerospace industry in particular has played a key role in elevating travel, commerce and defense, while helping to forge a national identity.
    — Adam Stone, USA Today, 3 July 2026
Definition of elevating
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

perkiness
perking (up)
perks
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Cite this Entry

“Perking (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perking%20%28up%29. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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