heightened

1. 1
   adjective

   Increased in intensity or concentration; raised above the usual level.

   The recent breaches created a heightened awareness of cybersecurity risks among executives.

   Her heightened anxiety made it hard to concentrate during the final exam.

   Similarelevated, raised, acute, greater

   Oppositereduced, diminished, lessened

   Note

   The participle settled into an adjective, and its grading shows it: something can be more heightened or most heightened, which no verb form allows. It usually sits before an abstract noun of degree, as in heightened demand or heightened solar activity, where it means stepped-up rather than physically higher. To tell it from the past-tense verb, ask whether anyone is doing the heightening. If no one is, it is the adjective.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of heighten.

   The slow, dramatic music heightened the tension in the final scene.

   His careless remarks had heightened concerns among the investors.

   Note

   A regular verb, so one spelling does both jobs. The simple past stands alone (the music heightened the tension), while the past participle follows have or had and builds passives (concerns were heightened). Both carry the two meanings of heighten: literally raising something higher, and figuratively making it stronger or more intense. A wall can be heightened as well as a mood.

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