Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To make less; reduce.
- v. Archaic To make little of; belittle.
- v. To become less; decrease. See Synonyms at decrease.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To become less; contract in bulk, quantity, number, or amount; decrease; diminish; shrink.
- To come to appear less from increase of distance.
- To make less; diminish; reduce in number, size, degree, or quality.
- To degrade; reduce in dignity; depreciate; disparage.
- To cause to appear less from increase of distance; specifically, in falconry, to soar above or beyond.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To make less; to reduce; to make smaller, or fewer; to diminish; to lower; to degrade
- v. To become less; to shrink; to contract; to decrease; to be diminished
WordNet 3.0
- v. make smaller
- v. wear off or die down
- v. decrease in size, extent, or range
Etymologies
- Middle English lessen, lessenen, from lesse, less; see less. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“If you have a Marine or Sailor in 1st platoon, don't be surprised if the frequency of your loved ones calls lessen and their e-mails stop altogether.”
“But he knew he would have to use some other stuff to kind of lessen the sting of his disagreement with how McCain is handling that situation about a confidential source.”
“Nor will they "lessen" it or compromise it in anyway.”
“For me the major breakthrough in my personal feminism was realizing that I didn't have to either agree with or even understand other's choices but that it did not "lessen" them as women or feminists.”
“EDITED TO ADD: After 5 lovely people had read and commented on this entry, I realized I had typed the word "lessen" instead of the more appropriate "lesson" in the second to last paragraph.”
“I saw a giant need for us as a species to not only "lessen" our dependence on carbon based fuels, but to do away with our utilization of them as a fuel source period!”
“Could it be that when you grow up knowing that you are a disadvantaged minority in a society, you also "lessen" your dreams?”
“When dealing with job titles that are higher-level than the positions for which you are applying, reduce bulleted points under these titles in the resume, and potentially "lessen" the title to a more appropriate name (as many companies will give you big titles in exchange for less compensation).”
“In an attempt to 'lessen' the gang-rape and murder of Abeer, they insisted she was 26-years-old.”
“It doesn't "lessen" our sex drive because it's no longer some sort of "special treat" to see her nude.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘lessen’.
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SAT
abandon,extreme e..., abash,to humiliate, abate,to lessen, abbreviate,to sho..., abridge, abdicate,to forma..., aberration,depart..., abnormality, abet,to encourage, abhor,to hate, abide,to follow o..., abject,utterly ho... and 2228 more...
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SAT
alleviate,to lighten, altercation,a qua..., amicable,friendly, ambiguous,vague, put something to ..., unclear, adaptation,A comp..., albatross,a signi..., indifferent, cordial nature, to mitigate, affinity,a natura... and 2229 more...
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SAT
abandon,extreme e..., dispensing of all..., abash,to humiliate, abate,to lessen, abbreviate,to sho..., abridge, abdicate,to forma..., aberration,depart..., abnormality, abet,to encourage, abhor,to hate, abide,to follow o... and 2229 more...
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