Meanings
verbrelax (third-person singular simple present relaxes, present participle relaxing, simple past and past participle relaxed)
present singular third person relaxes · participle present relaxing · participle past relaxed · past relaxed
- transitiveTo make something loose.
to relax a rope or cord
2 more examples
to relax the muscles or sinews
Horror […] all his joynts relax'd.
1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC - intransitiveTo rest and become relieved of stress.
I like to relax by listening to music.
1 more example
I relax in the living room.
2016, “Let's Learn English level 1”, in VOA Learning English, archived from the original on 30 Sep 2017, Lesson 5: Where Are You?, public domain - transitiveTo make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient.
The statute of mortmain[…] was at several times relaxed by the legislature.
1713, Jonathan Swift, A Preface to Bishop Burnet's Introduction1 more example
The Court rejected the contention that the doctrine of sovereign immunity should be relaxed as inapplicable to suits for specific relief as distinguished from damage suits, saying: "The Government, as representative of the community as a whole, cannot be stopped in its tracks by any plaintiff who presents a disputed question of property or contract right."
1953, “Section 2. Jurisdiction”, in Edward Samuel Corwin, editor, The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation, page 589 - intransitiveTo become more lenient.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo become loose.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
verbbecome less tense, less formal, or less restrained, and assume a friendlier manner
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinrelaxāre“relax, loosen, open”
- Old Frenchrelaxer
- Middle Englishrelaxen
- Englishrelax
From Middle English relaxen, from Old French relaxer, from Latin relaxāre (“relax, loosen, open”), from re- (“back”) + laxāre (“loosen”), from laxus (“loose, free”). By surface analysis, re- + lax (“open, free, loose”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اِسْتَرْخَى, اِسْتَرْخَى
- اِسْتَرْخَى (istarḵā)(intransitive) to become loose
- اِسْتَرْخَى (istarḵā)(transitive) to make something loose
Bulgarian разхлабвам се, отпускам
- разхлабвам се (razhlabvam se)(intransitive) to become loose
- отпускам (otpuskam)(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- разпускам (razpuskam)(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- отпускам (otpuskam)(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- смекчавам (smekčavam)(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- отпускам се (otpuskam se)(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- разхлабвам (razhlabvam)(transitive) to make something loose
Catalan relaxar-se, afluixar-se
- relaxar-se(intransitive) to become loose
- afluixar-se(intransitive) to become loose
- relaxar(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- relaxar-se(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- relaxar(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- relaxar(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- relaxar-se(intransitive) to become more lenient
- relaxar(transitive) to make something loose
- afluixar(transitive) to make something loose
- relaxar(transitive) to make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient
- afluixar(transitive) to make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient
Chinese Mandarin 放鬆下來 /放松下来, 鬆弛 /松弛
- 放鬆下來 /放松下来 (fàngsōng xiàlái)(intransitive) to become loose
- 鬆弛 /松弛 (sōngchí)(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- 緩解 /缓解 (huǎnjiě)(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- 緩和 /缓和 (huǎnhé)(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- 緩解 /缓解 (huǎnjiě)(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- 緩和 /缓和 (huǎnhé)(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- 鬆開 /松开 (sōngkāi)(transitive) to make something loose
- 放鬆 /放松 (fàngsōng)(transitive) to make something loose
- 緩和 /缓和 (huǎnhé)(transitive) to make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient
- 缓和 (huǎnhé)(transitive) to make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient
Czech uvolnit, uvolnit
- uvolnit(transitive) to make something loose
- uvolnit(transitive) to make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient
Danish falde til ro, slappe af
- falde til ro(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- slappe af(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
Dutch ontspannen, ontspannen
- ontspannen(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- ontspannen(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- losmaken(transitive) to make something loose
- ontspannen(transitive) to make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient
Esperanto malstreĉiĝi, senstreĉiĝi
- malstreĉiĝi(intransitive) to become loose
- senstreĉiĝi(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
Finnish rentoutua, rauhoittua
- rentoutua(intransitive) to become loose
- rauhoittua(intransitive) to become loose
- löystyä(intransitive) to become loose
- rentouttaa(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- rentoutua(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- höllentää(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- löyhentää(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- rentoutua(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- rauhoittua(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- löystyä(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- relata(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- höllentyä(intransitive) to become more lenient
French se détendre, se relaxer
- se détendre(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- se relaxer(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- se détendre(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- relâcher(transitive) to make something loose
German entspannen, sich entspannen
- entspannen(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- sich entspannen(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- relaxen(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- entspannen(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- lockern(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- lockern(transitive) to make something loose
- entspannen(transitive) to make something loose
- entspannen(transitive) to make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient
- lockern(transitive) to make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient
Greek χαλαρώνω
- χαλαρώνω (chalaróno)(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
Hungarian kipiheni magát, kikapcsolódik
- kipiheni magát(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- kikapcsolódik(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
Irish lig do scíth
- lig do scíth(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
Italian rilassare, rilassarsi
- rilassare(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- rilassarsi(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- riposarsi(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
Japanese くつろぐ, リラックスする
- くつろぐ (kutsurogu)(intransitive) to become loose
- リラックスする (rirakkusu suru)(intransitive) to become loose
- 落ち着かせる (ochitsukaseru)(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- 和らげる (yawarageru)(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- 緊張を解く (kinchō o toku)(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- リラックスする (rirakkusu suru)(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- 落ち着かせる (ochitsukaseru)(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- 和らげる (yawarageru)(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- 緊張を解く (kinchō wo toku)(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- 落ち着く (ochitsuku)(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- 緊張を解く (kinchō o toku)(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- ほっとする (hotto suru)(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
Korean 늦추다, 편안히 하다
- 늦추다 (neutchuda)(intransitive) to become loose
- 편안히 하다 (pyeonanhi hada)(intransitive) to become loose
Latin relaxō, relaxō
- relaxō(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- relaxō(transitive) to make something loose
Māori whakatakupe, whakanā
- whakatakupe(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- whakanā(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- whakakorokoro(transitive) to make something loose
- whakangoru(transitive) to make something loose
- whakatangatanga(transitive) to make something loose
Norwegian slappe av
- slappe av(transitive) to make something loose
Polish poluzowywać się, poluzować się
- poluzowywać się(intransitive) to become loose
- poluzować się(intransitive) to become loose
- relaksować(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- zrelaksować(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- odprężać(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- odprężyć(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- relaksować się(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- zrelaksować się(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- odprężać się(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- odprężyć się(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- rozluźniać(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- rozluźnić(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
Portuguese soltar, afrouxar
- soltar(intransitive) to become loose
- afrouxar(intransitive) to become loose
- relaxar(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- relaxar(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- relaxar(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- soltar(transitive) to make something loose
- afrouxar(transitive) to make something loose
Romanian relaxa, relaxa
- relaxa(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- relaxa(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- relaxa(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- relaxa(intransitive) to become more lenient
- relaxa(transitive) to make something loose
- destinde(transitive) to make something loose
- desface(transitive) to make something loose
Russian расслабля́ться, рассла́биться
- расслабля́ться (rasslabljátʹsja)(intransitive) to become loose
- рассла́биться (rasslábitʹsja)(intransitive) to become loose
- расслабля́ть (rasslabljátʹ)(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- рассла́бить (rasslábitʹ)(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- расслабля́ться (rasslabljátʹsja)(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- рассла́биться (rasslábitʹsja)(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- ослабля́ть (oslabljátʹ)(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- осла́бить (oslábitʹ)(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- распуска́ть (raspuskátʹ)(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- распусти́ть (raspustítʹ)(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- распуска́ться (raspuskátʹsja)(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- распусти́ться (raspustítʹsja)(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
Spanish relajar, relajarse
- relajar(intransitive) to become loose
- relajarse(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- estar de relax(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress
- relajarse(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- reposarse(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- relajar(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
- relajar(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- relajar(intransitive) to become more lenient
- relajar(transitive) to make something loose
- aflojar(transitive) to make something loose
- relajar(transitive) to make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient
Swedish slappna av, slappna av
- slappna av(intransitive) to become loose
- slappna av(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- koppla av(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
Thai หย่อน, ผ่อนคลาย
- หย่อน (yɔ̀n)(intransitive) to become loose
- ผ่อนคลาย (pɔ̀n-klaai)(transitive) to make something loose
- ลดหย่อน(transitive) to make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient
Ukrainian розслабля́тися, розсла́битися
- розслабля́тися (rozslabljátysja)(intransitive) to become loose
- розсла́битися (rozslábytysja)(intransitive) to become loose
- розслабля́тися (rozslabljátysja)(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- розсла́битися (rozslábytysja)(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress
- послабля́ти (poslabljáty)(transitive) to make something less severe or tense
Welsh ymlacio, ymlacio
- ymlacio(intransitive) to become loose
- ymlacio(intransitive) to become less severe or tense
- llacio(transitive) to make something loose
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with relax
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
relax. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/relax
MLA
“relax.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/relax. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “relax,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/relax.
Source: relax on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.