Lightening vs Lightning

The English words lightening and lightning are only one letter apart in spelling and pronunciation, but worlds apart in meaning. The lightning bolt of comprehension you get after reading this lesson will start lightening your confusion.


Lightening is the present participle of the verb "to lighten," and refers to the process of making something lighter in color. Lightening is the opposite of darkening, or making something darker.

I’m lightening my jeans by adding bleach to the wash. The dark blue will become light blue.

He’s lightening the room by painting it white.

Lightening also refers to the process of making something lighter in weight. Lightening is the opposite of making something heavier.

By using more plastic in place of metal, and thereby lightening cars, we can get better gas mileage.

The trick to lightening a cake is using beaten egg whites.


Lightning is a noun – it refers to the meteorological phenomenon that is followed by thunder.

Lightning tends to strike the tallest thing in its vicinity.

The lightning storm caused the forest fire.

The Bottom Line

The confusion between lightening and lightning is due to their similar spelling and pronunciation. Just remember that to be quick like lightning, you need to lighten your load by leaving out the e.

1 comment for “Lightening vs Lightning

  1. loclann
    20 January 2015 at 14:53

    lightning causes a lightening of the night sky

Leave a Reply