What does "elevate" mean?
To raise (something) to a higher position.
Elevate
/ˈɛləveɪt/ adj, verb, slang
adj, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: To raise (something) to a higher position.
- Grammar: elevate is listed as adj, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: advance, lift, promote, raise.
- Useful contrasts: abased, humble, humblest.
- Usage evidence: New truth and knowledge always elevate human life and most usually find practical application.
How to use "elevate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "elevate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "elevate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "elevate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "elevate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "elevate" is acting as adj, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "advance" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "elevate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To raise (something) to a higher position. transitive
"The doctor told me elevating my legs would help reduce the swelling."
- 2 raise in rank or condition wordnet
- 3 To promote (someone) to a higher rank. transitive
"Hard Fate of Greatness, We so highly Elevated Are more expos’d to Censure than the little ones,"
- 4 raise from a lower to a higher position wordnet
- 5 To promote (someone) to a higher rank.; To temporarily grant a program additional security privileges to the system to perform a privileged action (usually on the program's request). transitive
"Did you forget that all programs that modify the registry need to be elevated?"
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 give a promotion to or assign to a higher position wordnet
- 7 To confer honor or nobility on (someone). transitive
"The traditional worldview elevates man as the pinnacle of creation."
- 8 To make (something or someone) more worthy or of greater value. transitive
"A talented chef can elevate everyday ingredients into gourmet delights."
- 9 To direct (the mind, thoughts, etc.) toward more worthy things. transitive
"[…] the devout Christian improves the Blessings he receives of this inferiour World, to elevate his mind above it:"
- 10 To increase the intensity or degree of (something). transitive
"Some drugs have the side effect of elevating your blood sugar level."
- 11 To increase the intensity or degree of (something).; To increase the loudness of (a sound, especially one's voice). dated, transitive
"[…] the Uncle had more than once elevated his Voice, so as to be heard down Stairs;"
- 12 To lift the spirits of (someone) obsolete, transitive
"[…] Hope elevates, and joy Bright’ns his Crest,"
- 13 To intoxicate in a slight degree; to make (someone) tipsy. colloquial, dated, humorous
"Steele entertained them till he was tipsy; when the same wine that stupified him, only served to elevate Addison, who took up the ball just as Steele dropt it, and kept it up for the rest of the evening."
- 14 To attempt to make (something) seem less important, remarkable, etc. Latinism, obsolete
"1660, Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium, London: Richard Royston, Volume 1, Chapter 4, Rule 2, p. 126, […] the Arabian Physicians […] endevour to elevate and lessen the thing [i.e. belief in the virgin birth of Jesus], by saying, It is not wholly beyond the force of nature, that a Virgin should conceive […]"
Adjective
- 1 Elevated, raised aloft. obsolete
"1548, Edward Hall, The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke, London: Richard Grafton, Henry VII, year 6, The sayde crosse was .iii. tymes deuoutly eleuate, and at euery exaltacion, ye Moores beyng within the cytie, roared, howled and cryed,"
Antonyms
Example
"New truth and knowledge always elevate human life and most usually find practical application."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "elevate"?
Common synonyms include: advance, lift, promote, raise, upgrade, acculturate.
How do you use "elevate" in a sentence?
New truth and knowledge always elevate human life and most usually find practical application.
How do you pronounce "elevate"?
Pronounced /ˈɛləveɪt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English elevaten (“to raise up, erect; to elate, inflate (e.g. with pride); (alchemy) to vaporize; (of a bone, excressence, blood vessel) to protrude”), from elevat(e) (“(in physical elevation, in rank, in altitude above the horizon) high”, also used as the past participle of elevaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), further from Latin ēlevātus, the perfect passive participle of ēlevō (“to raise, lift up”), from ē- (“out”) + levō (“to make light, to lift”), from levis (“light”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix); see levity and lever.
Etymology 2
From Middle English elevat(e) (“(in physical elevation, in rank, in altitude above the horizon) high”, also used as the past participle of elevaten), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more. Cognate with French élevé.