bring out

2 meanings

Meanings
  1. 1 make a detail, quality, or feeling easier to notice B2
  2. 2 release something for the public to buy or see B2
1 bring sth out

make a detail, quality, or feeling easier to notice

B2

What does "bring out" mean in this sense?

To bring out a quality, detail, or feeling means to make it more visible, stronger, or easier to notice than it was before. The quality was already there, but something causes it to become more prominent — a colour that enhances your eye colour, a cooking method that intensifies a flavour, or a new experience that reveals a side of your personality you didn't know was there. This phrasal verb is widely used in everyday contexts: fashion, food, photography, and personal development all rely on it heavily. It works equally well for physical qualities (colour, texture, warmth) and more abstract ones (confidence, creativity, resilience). Crucially, something external always does the highlighting — a spice brings out a flavour, a situation brings out someone's strength.

Examples

How to use it

subject + bring out + quality/characteristic

The most common pattern — something (the subject) makes a quality more noticeable. The object is always a characteristic, not a product.

The warm lighting in the restaurant really brings out the richness of the food.

subject + bring + object + out

Separation is very natural and common, especially with shorter noun phrases. This is the preferred word order in everyday speech.

That scarf really brings the colour out in your jacket.

subject + bring + pronoun (it/them) + out

When the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and the particle — placing it after 'out' is not acceptable.

I love how the seasoning brings it out — the soup tastes completely different now.

bring out the best/worst in + person

This is a very common fixed-ish phrase meaning to cause someone to show their best or worst qualities. Learn it as a chunk.

Working under pressure seems to bring out the best in her — she's incredibly focused.

quality + be brought out by + cause

The passive is natural when describing how something external highlights a quality. The cause follows 'by'.

The natural warmth of the wood was beautifully brought out by the varnish.

Common Collocations

bring out the best in someonebring out the colourbring out the flavourbring out someone's confidencebring out the worst in someonebring out hidden talent

Common Mistakes

Pronoun after the particle

When the object is a pronoun like 'it' or 'them', it must go between 'bring' and 'out', not after 'out'. Placing the pronoun after the particle is ungrammatical.

✗ The filter really brings out it.
✓ The filter really brings it out.
Confusing the 'highlight' sense with 'release a product'

'Bring out' can also mean to release or publish something, which is a completely different sense. The object is the key clue: if it's a quality or characteristic (confidence, colour, flavour), it means 'highlight'; if it's a product, album, or book, it means 'release'.

✗ They brought out the best design of the new phone. (ambiguous — could mean 'released' or 'highlighted')
✓ The new design brought out the sleekness of the product. (highlighting a quality) / They brought out a new phone last month. (releasing a product)
Using 'bring out' when 'draw out' is more precise

If you mean slowly coaxing out a quality that is deeply hidden or that someone is reluctant to show — especially in a person — 'draw out' is often more natural. 'Bring out' is better for making an already-present quality more noticeable or prominent.

✗ The therapist spent months bringing out his ability to trust others again.
✓ The therapist spent months drawing out his ability to trust others again.

Usage

This phrasal verb is neutral and works in both spoken and written English. It is especially common in fashion, food, and personal development contexts. The fixed phrase 'bring out the best/worst in someone' is very frequent and worth memorising as a chunk.

2 bring sth out

release something for the public to buy or see

B2

Sense 2: What does "bring sth out" mean?

To bring out something means to launch or release it so that the public can access, buy, or experience it for the first time. It's used when a company, artist, or creator is the one doing the releasing — for example, a band bringing out an album, a publisher bringing out a book, or a tech company bringing out a new device. The focus is always on the agent behind the release, not the product itself. You'll hear and read this phrasal verb constantly in entertainment news, consumer journalism, and everyday conversations about what's new. It typically implies a deliberate, planned launch — something people may have been anticipating.

Examples

How to use it

subject + bring out + noun phrase

The most common structure, used when releasing a product, publication, or creative work to the public.

The fashion house brought out a new collection just before the holiday season.

subject + bring + short noun phrase + out

Separation with a short object is common and sounds natural in everyday speech.

They're planning to bring a new model out before the end of the year.

subject + bring + pronoun + out

When the object is a pronoun, it must go between 'bring' and 'out' — placing it after 'out' is not grammatical.

The publisher confirmed the sequel — they're bringing it out in the spring.

be brought out (passive)

The passive form is possible but less common; it tends to appear in journalistic or more formal writing.

A limited-edition version of the game is expected to be brought out later this year.

be about to / going to + bring out + noun phrase

This phrasal verb often appears with near-future structures, since releases are frequently planned or anticipated.

The streaming platform is about to bring out a documentary on the band's world tour.

Common Collocations

new albumnew booknew modelnew collectionnew editionnew product

Common Mistakes

Pronoun placement

When the object is a pronoun like 'it' or 'them', it must come between 'bring' and 'out'. Putting it after 'out' is ungrammatical in English.

✗ They brought out it last month.
✓ They brought it out last month.
Confusing 'bring out' with 'come out'

'Bring out' needs a subject that is the creator or company doing the releasing. If the product itself is the subject of your sentence, use the intransitive 'come out' instead.

✗ The new album brought out in September.
✓ The band brought out a new album in September. / The new album came out in September.
Separating long noun phrases

With long or complex noun phrases as the object, it's more natural to keep 'bring out' together and place the object at the end, rather than splitting the two parts far apart.

✗ They brought their highly anticipated limited-edition anniversary collection out last week.
✓ They brought out their highly anticipated limited-edition anniversary collection last week.

Usage

This phrasal verb is neutral and works in both spoken and written English. The subject is always the person or company doing the releasing — if you want to talk about the product itself, use the intransitive 'come out' instead (e.g. 'The album came out last week').

Frequently Asked Questions

Can 'bring out' be used to describe what a person does, or only what a thing does?

Both are possible. A thing can bring out a quality — 'the lighting brings out the texture' — but a person can too: 'She really brings out my creativity.' When a person is the subject, it usually means they create conditions that allow a quality in someone else to flourish.

What kinds of objects can follow 'bring out' in the 'highlight' sense?

The object should always be a quality, feature, or feeling — things like colour, flavour, confidence, texture, creativity, or emotions. It should never be a physical product or publication; those belong to the separate 'release' sense of this phrasal verb.

Does 'bring out' have a positive connotation?

Not always — it's neutral. It simply means 'make more noticeable', so it works just as well for negative qualities: 'Stress can bring out the worst in people.' The phrase 'bring out the worst in someone' is just as common as 'bring out the best.'

Can I use 'bring out' in the passive, and does it sound natural?

Yes, the passive is quite natural with this sense, especially with the structure 'be brought out by'. For example: 'The sweetness of the dish was brought out by a small amount of honey.' It works well in writing and in more descriptive speech.

Is 'bring out the best in someone' a fixed phrase, or can I change it?

It's not completely fixed, but it's used so often that it functions almost like a set phrase. You can replace 'best' with 'worst' or occasionally other nouns ('bring out the leader in someone'), but the structure 'bring out the best/worst in someone' is by far the most common and is worth memorising as a chunk.

Can 'bring out' be used for any kind of product, or only certain things?

It's most naturally used for things that are launched to the public in a single release event — albums, books, films, new phone models, fashion collections, software updates, and so on. It would sound odd with something like a service that rolls out gradually across different regions; in those cases, 'roll out' is more natural.

Does 'bring out' always mean releasing a product? I've also heard it used differently.

No, 'bring out' has more than one meaning. In this sense, it's about making something available to the public — a product, publication, or creative work. In a completely different sense, it can mean causing a quality to emerge in someone, as in 'She brings out the best in him.' Context makes it clear which sense is intended.

Can I use 'bring out' in the present simple, like 'The company brings out a new model every year'?

Technically it's possible, but it can sound slightly awkward when referring to a single company's habitual practice. It's more natural in the past simple, present perfect, or future structures. If you want to describe a regular pattern, 'release' often works more smoothly in habitual statements.

Is the passive form 'be brought out' common?

It does exist and is grammatically fine, but the active form is much more common in everyday speech and writing. You're more likely to encounter the passive in journalistic or formal contexts — for example, in a press release or news article.

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