English idiom

make light of

Register · Neutral CEFR B2

Post

Figurative meaning

to treat a serious matter as unimportant, often by joking about it

Word picture

A heavy concern is pictured as being made physically light and easy to carry.

Example

“The manager made light of the outage, even though customers were furious.”

Dictionary details

Component words

light

Tags

Expressions connected by reviewed component words or topic tags.

see the light of day

be created, published, or finally made available for people to see

light at the end of the tunnel

A sign that a difficult period may soon improve or end.

make light work of

to handle a demanding task quickly and effortlessly

fall on deaf ears

to be ignored without producing any response or acknowledgment

neither here nor there

irrelevant to the matter being discussed

watch this space

used to say that more news or developments will come soon

Source methodology

Meanings, register, CEFR, and examples come from the reviewed dictionary record. Expression notes may describe a reviewed present-day word picture or a background note; they are not presented as verified etymology.

External links

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