1.

lighten sth up phrasal verb [ M ]

to make a speech or piece of writing less serious
I thought I'd slip in a few jokes to lighten up the talk.

2. lighten up phrasal verb INFORMAL

to become more relaxed and less serious
Oh, lighten up! I was only joking!
I wish she'd lighten up a bit.

3. On the whole: Considering everything; in general

. On the whole, I am in favor of the idea.

4. savage /ˈ sæv.ɪ dʒ/ adjective

1. extremely violent, wild or frightening
a savage dog/beast
a brutal and savage attack
2. very serious or cruel
savage criticism

5. back off phrasal verb INFORMAL

1. to stop being involved in a situation, usually in order to allow other people to
deal with it themselves
She started to criticize me, then she suddenly backed off.
Just back off and let us do this on our own, will you?
2. to move backwards away from someone, usually because you are frightened
I saw the knife and backed off.

acknowledge /əkˈ nɒl.ɪ dʒ/ /-ˈ nɑː .lɪ dʒ/ verb [ T ]

to accept, admit or recognize something, or the truth or existence of something
[ + -ing verb ] She acknowledged hav ing been at fault.
[ + that ] She acknowledged that she had been at fault.
You must acknowledge the truth of her argument.
Historians generally acknowledge her as a genius in her field.
[ + object + to infinitive ] She is usually acknowledged to be one of our best
artists.
They refused to acknowledge (= to recognize officially) the new government.
Please acknowledge receipt of (= say that you have received) this letter.
He didn't even acknowledge my presence (= show that he had seen me) .
The government won't even acknowledge the existence of the problem.

persona /pəˈ səʊ.nə/ /pɚˈ soʊ-/ noun [ C ] plural personae or personas

the particular type of character that a person seems to have, which is often
different from their real or private character
He had a shy, retiring side to his personality that was completely at odds with his
public persona.

deceptive /dɪ ˈ sep.tɪ v/ adjective

making you believe something that is not true
 It's deceptive - from the outside the building looks small, but inside it's quite big.

distract /dɪ ˈ strækt/ verb [ T ]

to make someone stop giving their attention to something
Don't distract her ( from her studies).
He tried to distract attention from his own illegal activities.