Past tense of relent
regular verb
The past tense of relent is relented. The past participle is also relented.
Forms of relent
| Base form (V1) | relent /ɹɪˈlɛnt/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | relented |
| Past participle (V3) | relented |
| Present participle | relenting |
| Third person singular | relents |
Relented in a sentence
- He had planned to ground his son for a month, but relented and decided to give him a stern lecture instead.
- Elmo looked upon his only granddaughter with kindliness, and often relented to her demands for chocolate.From the entry kindliness
- As a fourth finger snapped, Cacus gave an unearthly scream and relented.2011, Steven Saylor, Roma: The Epic Novel of Ancient Rome. From the entry unearthly
- McCain relented in April, but his new stance represented mostly a political pivot, supporting administration antiforeclosure efforts.2008 June 15, “Foreclosures and the Election”, in New York Times. From the entry antiforeclosure
- After taking one life, Hurricane Gloria relented and swept northward, leaving wrecked buildings, piers, boats.1987 October, Charles E. Cobb, Jr., “North Carolina's Outer Banks”, in National Geographic, volume 172, number 4, page 490. From the entry life
Meaning of relent
- verb To give in or be swayed; to become less hard, harsh, or cruel; to show clemency.
- verb To slacken; to abate.
- verb To lessen, make less severe or intense.
Questions about the past tense of relent
- What is the past tense of relent?
- The past tense of relent is relented.
- What is the past participle of relent?
- The past participle of relent is relented.
- Is relent a regular or irregular verb?
- Relent is a regular verb: its past tense adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: relent (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of relent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/relent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.