Definition

1. Verb (transitive):

   • To make something smaller in size, amount, degree, or intensity; to reduce.
   • To cause something to appear less significant or important; to diminish.

2. Verb (intransitive):

   • To become smaller or reduced in size, amount, degree, or intensity; to decrease.

Usage

• As a transitive verb, "lessen" takes a direct object (e.g., to lessen pain, to lessen the risk).
• As an intransitive verb, it describes a process happening to a subject (e.g., the pain lessened).
• It is commonly used in both formal and informal contexts to describe a reduction in physical quantities, abstract qualities, or intensity.

Examples

• Transitive Verb:

  • The medicine helped to lessen the patient's discomfort.
  • We must find ways to lessen our environmental impact.
  • His apology did not lessen her anger.

• Intransitive Verb:

  • The storm's intensity lessened by morning.
  • Public interest in the scandal has lessened over time.
  • The pain should lessen within a few hours.

Advanced Usage

• "to lessen the blow/impact": To make a negative piece of news or a difficult situation slightly easier to bear.
  • The company offered severance pay to lessen the blow of the layoffs.
• "to lessen one's chances": To reduce the probability of success.
  • Arriving late for the interview will lessen your chances of getting the job.

Variants and Related Words

• Lessening (noun): The action or process of making or becoming less.
  • There has been a noticeable lessening of tensions between the two countries.
• Unabated (adj): Often used in contrast, meaning without any reduction in intensity.
  • The rain continued unabated. (The rain did not lessen.)

Synonyms

• Decrease: Often interchangeable, but "decrease" is more neutral and statistical.
• Reduce: Often implies a deliberate action to make something smaller.
• Diminish: Often implies a reduction in value, importance, or quality.
• Subside: Often used for things like pain, feelings, or natural phenomena gradually becoming less intense.
• Abate: Similar to "subside," often used for things like storms, fever, or anger becoming less severe.

Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Lessen" itself is not typically used to form standard phrasal verbs. The concept of reduction is more commonly expressed with verbs like "go down," "die down," or "wear off.")

Related Idioms

• "Less is more": This idiom suggests that a simpler, smaller amount can be more effective or elegant. While it uses the comparative form "less," it conceptually relates to the idea of reduction embodied in "lessen."
  • In design, she believes less is more.

Verb

1. wear off or die down
   • The pain subsided
2. make smaller
   • He decreased his staff
3. decrease in size, extent, or range
   • The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester
   • The cabin pressure fell dramatically
   • her weight fell to under a hundred pounds
   • his voice fell to a whisper