enjouer

A rare, literary verb meaning to make lively or cheerful in tone (enjouer sa narration). It survives almost entirely through its adjective enjoué(e), meaning cheerful or playful, which is far more common than the verb itself. Most modern readers will never meet the verb form outside older texts.

• L'auteur enjoue son style pour alléger le sujet. — The author lightens his style to make the subject less heavy.
• Ce ton enjoué rendait la conférence agréable. — That cheerful tone made the talk pleasant.
• Elle a un tempérament enjoué et communicatif. — She has a cheerful, infectious temperament.

So rare in verb form that there's no real common-mistake pattern — learners are far more likely to meet and need the adjective enjoué than this verb.

Often confused with enjôler.