Uplifting describes something that makes your heart feel lighter and gives you hope. It is an adjective, and it is almost always about the effect a thing has on you, not about the thing's own mood: an uplifting song, an uplifting film, an uplifting piece of news. Notice that the feeling it points to is a lift — you were low, or flat, or tired, and afterwards you feel better and more hopeful than before. That is why 'uplifting' fits a sad story with a hopeful ending so well. A film about a poor family who finally succeed can be called uplifting even though you cried in the middle. If a story is only happy from start to finish, English speakers are more likely to say 'cheerful' or 'fun'. Uplifting keeps a little of the climb in it. The word is common in reviews, in church and in talks about music and books, and it sounds warm and slightly formal — a bit nicer than everyday speech, but not difficult. People also use it about experiences: an uplifting weekend, an uplifting conversation, uplifting news. There is a second, much rarer use in older or technical writing, where 'uplifting' simply means lifting something up physically, but you will almost never meet it, and if you say 'uplifting' about a box you are moving, people will be confused.