Definition of LESSENING

Choose the Right Synonym for lessen

decrease, lessen, diminish, reduce, abate, dwindle mean to grow or make less. decrease suggests a progressive decline in size, amount, numbers, or intensity. slowly decreased the amount of pressure lessen suggests a decline in amount rather than in number. has been unable to lessen her debt diminish emphasizes a perceptible loss and implies its subtraction from a total. his visual acuity has diminished reduce implies a bringing down or lowering. you must reduce your caloric intake abate implies a reducing of something excessive or oppressive in force or amount. the storm abated dwindle implies progressive lessening and is applied to things growing visibly smaller. their provisions dwindled slowly

Examples of lessen in a Sentence

Medication helps lessen the severity of the symptoms. we lessened our efforts as it became clear they weren't having an effect

Recent Examples on the Web

The political pressure on Mr. Cuomo over the verdicts is not expected to lessen. — New York Times, "Cuomo’s Rivals Look to Tie Him to Corruption Convictions of Top Aides," 13 July 2018 In a decision that imposed no conditions, Leon came to the conclusion that the government hadn't proved its case that the vertical merger between the two companies was likely to lessen competition. — Eriq Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, "Justice Department Appealing Decision Allowing AT&T-Time Warner Merger," 12 July 2018 The Trump administration has sought to lessen the CFPB's authority and decrease its budget. — Kathryn Watson, CBS News, "What you need to know about Trump's top SCOTUS contenders," 8 July 2018 The urgency to get the Drought Contingency Plan done certainly has magnified, and is more important than ever to lessen the probability of the lake falling to more unhealthy levels. — Jim Carlton, WSJ, "Falling Lake Mead Water Levels Prompt Detente in Arizona Feud," 7 July 2018 But unlike most automakers—Ford, GM, BMW, Toyota, [to name a few]—that automate to lessen the burden on their workers, Musk wanted to replace [the workers]. — Chuck Tannert, Popular Mechanics, "Can Tesla Keep Up the Model 3 Pace?," 2 July 2018 The frenetic pace began to lessen, as both sides began to pace themselves after the gung-ho start. — SI.com, "Costa Rica 0-1 Serbia: Kolarov Cracker Sees White Eagles Soar to Victory Over Lacklustre Los Ticos," 17 June 2018 Madeleine Brand, radio host with KCRW Los Angeles The jungle primary was supposed to lessen the importance of political parties. — Amy Chance, sacbee, "California Influencers: What did we learn from the June primary election, and why?," 11 June 2018 Officials say the smoke should begin to lessen and move northeast later Saturday. — Fox News, "The Latest: More evacuations ordered at Colorado wildfire," 9 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lessen.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.