Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use lessen in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, conjunction

Lessen means to make less; to diminish; to reduce. Example: “Bubble machines sparge water for platform diving competitions to lessen the impact.”

Examples of lessen by meaning

verbTo make less; to diminish; to reduce.

  • 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

conjunctionUnless.

  • 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
  • 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

More sentences with lessen

  • Bubble machines sparge water for platform diving competitions to lessen the impact.From the entry sparge
  • The insurance adjuster tried to minimize the extent of the damage to lessen the company's exposure to liability.From the entry minimize
  • Nyctitropic movements of plants usually consist in a folding or drooping of the leaves, the advantage being in lessening the radiation of heat.From the entry nyctitropic
  • This precaution is necessary to lessen the damage in case of chafage.2024, Robert J. Meurn, Marine Cargo Operations. From the entry flat
  • One phone call to the lawyer and some of my anxiety had lessened.2020, Eve Langlais, Halfway There. From the entry eased
  • It's much like anesthesia– And mysteriously, my trembling gradually starts to lessen.2008, Hayashi Naotaka, “Prologue”, in Chaos;Head. From the entry boring
  • Maybe a trip to the greenhouse will lessen my feeling of greenout when I go north?2008 December 10, Mittlefehldt, David "Duck", “The Antarctic search for meteorites: preparations”, in The Planetary Society blog. From the entry greenout
  • But with multis, and other mana sources, you can lessen the odds of a color screw.1995 July 29, Chuck Cochems, “Re: Type I/II and Origins - an observation”, in rec.games.trading-cards.magic.misc (Usenet). From the entry color screw
  • I mouthbreathed, to lessen that overpowering smell, the permanent scent of greasy burn.1988, Jack Womack, Terraplane, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, →ISBN, page 115. From the entry mouthbreathe
  • It was pitch dark but the sea was calmer and the bucking of the ship had lessened.1937 04, Collier's. From the entry slat
  • Spraying with an antiseptic did not lessen in any sense such danger as there was.1916 December 13, W. A. Evans, “Germs and Germs”, How to Keep Well, in The Chicago Daily Tribune, volume 75, number 298, page 8. From the entry germophobiac
  • We found that the collision may have been avoided or its severity lessened had these systems been installed on the truck-tractor.2024, NTSB, Highway Investigation Report, HIR-24-05. From the entry adaptive
  • The rain had lessened—and was that actually sun on the horizon, leaching through the thinning clouds in an electric streak?2005, Kate Brallier, Seal Island, New York, N.Y.: Tor Romance, →ISBN, page 241. From the entry seawife
  • The shoulders are graded and the verges cleared well back to lessen the chances of hitting stray stock.2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 129. From the entry shoulder
  • To be sure, there are those who are more sophisticated in their dogmatic eisegeses, but the offense is not thereby lessened.1984, Kelly Miller Smith, Social Crisis Preaching: The Lyman Beecher Lectures, 1983. From the entry eisegesis
  • Disposables and dissolvables may soon lessen the need to return goods which have been used or worked with.1965, Marshall B. Kreidberg, Herman H. Field, Problems of Pediatric Hospital Design. From the entry dissolvable
  • 'And while I'm not trying to lessen Old Beau's reputation, my first son is going to be named "Bob Lee Wellburn".'1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter XXXV, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC. From the entry beau
  • Her thugduggery with the mark has not lessened the suspicion with which the world at large regards her.1923, The Magazine of Wall Street and Business Analyst. From the entry thugduggery
  • Australians Angus Ware and Jeffrey Simpson of Sydney-based Heliograf were inspired both by the iconic, cute fish, and the desire to lessen their environmental impact.2024 August 13, Laura Botham, “5 products with wondrously unexpected designs”, in IIDA, United States, archived from the original on 03…. From the entry shoyu-tai
  • Which begs the question, was the tale really diminished—lessened, minimized, or smallened in some way—when I started to lean on that linguistic crutch?2019, Mike Rowe, The Way I Heard It, page 90. From the entry smallen
  • That, however, will not lessen the embarrassment for England, their departing manager and a set of players who chronically under-performed after Wayne Rooney’s early penalty.2016 June 27, Daniel Taylor, “England humiliated as Iceland knock them out of Euro 2016”, in The Guardian, London. From the entry chronically
  • Note that in Chapter 4 we discuss the major antishadow-education policies of South Korea as an attempt to lessen social reproductive processes.2005, David Baker, Gerald K. LeTendre, National Differences, Global Similarities, →ISBN, page 45. From the entry antishadow
  • But whatever cumbles—you lessening?—don’t let me hear that you hopped a wabash or slitched your licklechick in a flammery, all for your blooey grubstake!2005, J.R. Moehringer [pseudonym; John Joseph Moehringer], “Smelly”, in The Tender Bar: A Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Hyperion, →ISBN, part…. From the entry rememberize
  • "If they're highly responsive then it lessens the load on supermarkets to provide the traditional singlet bags, so ultimately there could be cost savings."2003 April 17, “Minister says recycling's in the bag”, in ABC Premium News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. From the entry singlet bag
  • To lessen these forces, as well as achieve zero-zero seat capability—the ability to eject while sitting motionless on the ground—rocket sustainers were added.2002, Walter J. Boyne, Air warfare: an international encyclopedia: Volume 1, page 190. From the entry zero-zero
  • This then, is my hope: if at least one of us does not talk bridge at the table, the table talk will eventually be lessened.2002, Roselyn Teukolsky, How to Play Bridge with Your Spouse and Survive, →ISBN, page 186. From the entry table talk
  • By demonstrating, even on this superficial level, that it is possible to cry without having pain the degree of emotional inexpressivity is lessened.1951, J[oseph] A[ugustus] Winter, A Doctor’s Report on Dianetics: Theory and Therapy, page 117. From the entry inexpressivity
  • This lessens the liability of an upper log rolling or falling upon the workman while he Is engaged in cutting the lower tree.1912 June 18, Supreme Court of Washington, “HENDRICKSON v. SIMPSON LOGGING CO.”, in The Pacific reporter, page 395. From the entry jackpot
  • Long-termists aim to lessen the probability of existential disasters that would prevent future generations being born—and the risks presented by rogue AI have become a central concern.2023 November 25, Richard Waters, John Thornhill, “Tech’s philosophical rift over AI”, in FT Weekend (Big Read section), London: The…. From the entry long-termist
  • To help lessen the leakage, the funeral home had zipped the body inside a “Unionall,” a leak-resistant jumpsuit, before dressing the Bopper in his funeral suit.2011, Dr Bill Bass, Jefferson Bass, Jon Jefferson, Beyond the Body Farm. From the entry unionall
  • The final nine bars must be played in strict time: the perdendosi effect relies on the lessening of rhythmic activity rather than a slackening of tempo.1999, Graham Steed, The Organ Works of Marcel Dupré, →ISBN, page 79. From the entry perdendosi
  • One might even describe a monitored feedback loop that permits one to sense when insufficient loving is returning from the lovee, causing a lessening of the lover's efforts.1999, James R. Ozinga, Altruism, page 11. From the entry lovee
  • After cryo processing, the refractive lenticle was freeze dried, which made for easier shipping and lessened the importance of time if the lenticle should be transported elsewhere.1998, Lucio Buratto, Stephen F. Brint, LASIK: Principles and Techniques, page 312. From the entry cryo process
  • The DDT powder does not kill the rats; it merely defleas them and lessens the likelihood of the spread of typhus fever from rat to man.1948, University of Florida Publications in Experimental Applied Economics, volume 3, page 124. From the entry deflea
  • Whether this is true, or to what extent the transmitted load may be lessened by a supersudden load, as compared to just a sudden load, is not known.1945, Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers 1945: Volume 110, Superintendent of Government Documents, page 788. From the entry supersudden
  • With her own dried tongue, she bent to moisten into relaxation its indrawn blue lips, and breathing on the clenched, congested hands, tried as unavailingly to lessen their terrible tension.1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia…. From the entry unavailingly

Meaning of lessen

  1. verb To make less; to diminish; to reduce.
  2. verb To become less.
  3. conjunction Unless.

Full definition of lessen

Questions about lessen in a sentence

How do you use lessen in a sentence?
Lessen is used as a verb and conjunction. For example: “Bubble machines sparge water for platform diving competitions to lessen the impact.”
What is a short sentence with lessen?
“No more work outta them lessen they paid now.”
What does lessen mean?
Lessen means to make less; to diminish; to reduce.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lessen (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use lessen in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/lessen. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.