lessen
UK/ˈlɛsən/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈlesən/
lessen verb: to make less; to diminish; to reduce.
Verb
lessen (third-person singular simple present lessens, present participle lessening, simple past and past participle lessened)
- To make less; to diminish; to reduce.
- a. 1686, Benjamin Calamy, a sermon
Charity […] shall lessen his punishment. - December 6, 1709, Francis Atterbury, a sermon preach'd before the sons of the clergy at their anniversary-meeting in the Church of St. Paul
St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men conspired to lessen it.
- Synonyms:
- blunt
- a. 1686, Benjamin Calamy, a sermon
- To become less.
- Synonyms:
- abate
Conjunction
lessen
- unless.
- Ober closed his encomium with the serious statement that “Lessen he could marry Miss Jennie he would be a bachelor the balance of his life," to which the drayman replied that " If Oi were Miss Janie Oi'd black yer oi the minute ye thought of such a thing. The oidee."1895, Book-keeper (Detroit, Mich. : 1888). - Volume 8, Issue 6, page 10
- She was fine-looking; he couldn't find a fault with her 'lessen he made it up.2011, Caroline Miller, Lamb in His Bosom, page 107
lessen meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
lessen in Tamil
- குறை, குறைத்துக்கொள், சுருக்கு
lessen in Urdu
- to lessen
- اتارنا utārnā
lessen in Bengali
- পরিমাণ, তীব্রতা কমানো
lessen in Malayalam
- to lessen
- കുറയുക kuṟayuka
More languagesFewer languages
- lessen in Kannada
- ಇಳಿಸು, ಕುಗ್ಗಿಸು, ಕಡಮೆ ಮಾಡು, ಕೊರೆ
- lessen in Punjabi
- ਘਟਣਾ ghaṭaṇā, ਘਟਾਉਣਾ ghaṭāuṇā
- lessen in Gujarati
- ઘટવું ghaṭvũ
- lessen in Odia
- ଝିଙ୍କିବା jhiṅkibā
- lessen in Sanskrit
- मी mī
- lessen in Thai
- ลด lót, ผ่อนปรน, ลดหย่อน, ลดทอน
Examples of lessen in a sentence
- The thin glass that makes mirror tiles light in weight also tends to lessen their reflective quality.1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 44:
- No more work outta them lessen they paid now.2011, J. California Cooper, Family:
- That usually all they need fuh go that straight and narrow path, lessen they got that real badness or foolishness in them.2013, Lornabelle Gethers, Honey Bea's Everlasting Gift, page 88:
Synonyms of lessen
Forms of lessen
| third-person singular present | lessens |
|---|---|
| present participle | lessening |
| past participle | lessened |
| past | lessened |
Origin of lessen
From Middle English lessenen, lasnen, equivalent to less + -en (verbal suffix).
Words formed from lessen
Words that rhyme with lessen
Questions about lessen
- What does lessen mean?
- Lessen means to make less; to diminish; to reduce.
- What is lessen in Tamil?
- Lessen in Tamil is குறை, குறைத்துக்கொள், சுருக்கு. See Lessen meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use lessen in a sentence?
- The thin glass that makes mirror tiles light in weight also tends to lessen their reflective quality.
- What part of speech is lessen?
- Lessen can be a verb or a conjunction.
- How do you pronounce lessen?
- Lessen is pronounced /ˈlɛsən/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of lessen?
- The past tense of lessen is lessened.
Words near lessen in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lessen (page history and authors); lessen (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); اتارنا (Urdu) (page history and authors); Lessen (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); കുറയുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); lessen (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਘਟਣਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ઘટવું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ଝିଙ୍କିବା (Odia) (page history and authors); मी (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-lessen.ogg.
Cite this entry: “lessen.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lessen. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.