How to Say "Cheer Up" in Italian

sollevare il morale

/sol.leˈva.re il moˈra.le/word by word

To cheer up in Italian is to say sollevare il morale. Wiktionary also lists rallegrare.

Meaning: to make someone happy (verb)

Ways to say it

“cheer up” in Italian
Italian	IPA
sollevare il morale	/sol.leˈva.re il moˈra.le/ (word by word)
rallegrare	/ral.leˈɡra.re/

The verb sollevare il morale is used to describe the act of improving someone's mood or spirits. If you want to express the idea of cheering someone up through an interjection, you might use coraggio! to tell them to be brave or forza! to encourage them to keep going when they are struggling. You can also use su, sorridi! to say "come on, smile!"

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase sollevare il morale literally means "to lift the morale."

Which one should you use?

Use sollevare il morale when describing the act of improving someone's mood or spirits, whereas rallegrare is more about making someone feel joyful or brightened. For example, rallegrare is often used for things that bring a sense of brightness or joy, such as in the expression rallegrare il cuore (to gladden the heart).

Related words

How do you pronounce it?

/sol.leˈva.re il moˈra.le/

Did you know?

The article il in il morale features an 'i' that was added historically to make the pronunciation smoother, a linguistic phenomenon known as a svarabhakti vowel.
Using coraggio! to cheer someone up shifts the meaning from making them 'happy' to encouraging them to be 'brave'.

Examples in context

Dai, non ti preoccupare! La prossima volta andrà meglio!
Come on, don't worry! Next time, it will go better!
Su, sorridi! La vita è bella!
Come on, smile! Life is beautiful!
Cerco di sollevare il morale a mio fratello.
I am trying to cheer up my brother.
La musica può sollevare il morale di tutti.
Music can cheer up everyone's spirits.
Voglio sollevare il morale di Maria oggi.
I want to cheer up Maria today.

Example conversation

Giulia finds Lorenzo feeling sad in the living room.

Giulia

Perché sei così triste, Lorenzo?
Why are you so sad, Lorenzo?
Lorenzo

Ho avuto una giornata davvero difficile.
I had a really difficult day.
Giulia

Usciamo a cena per sollevare il morale!
Let's go out for dinner to cheer you up!
Lorenzo

Grazie Giulia, è un'ottima idea.
Thanks Giulia, that is a great idea.

Sources

Wiktionary, “cheer up” translations and entries rallegrare, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (sollevare, il, morale) and can differ in connected speech.
Word origins: Wiktionary entries il, morale, sollevare, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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How to Say “Cheer Up” in Italian