one's face lights up

idiom

—used to say that someone looks pleased and happy
Her face lit up when she saw him.

Browse Nearby Words

one's face lights up
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“One's face lights up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/one%27s%20face%20lights%20up. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Superb Owl Words

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things
See More

Popular Features

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

9 Superb Owl Words

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
clapperboard-popcorn
Hollywood Lingo Quiz Are you a showbiz whiz?
See All