Meanings
present singular third person relents · participle present relenting · participle past relented · past relented
- intransitiveTo give in or be swayed; to become less hard, harsh, or cruel; to show clemency.
He had planned to ground his son for a month, but relented and decided to give him a stern lecture instead.
3 more examples
Can you, my Lord of Winchester, behold My sighs and tears and will not once relent?
1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]Only the valley where Sish rested when he and Time were young did Sish not provoke his hours to assail. There he restrained his old hound Time […] For the minds of the gods relent towards their earliest memories, who relent not otherwise at all.
1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLCI did, I suppose, hope that she might finally relent a little and make some conciliatory response or other.
1989, Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day - intransitiveTo slacken; to abate.
He will not relent in his effort to reclaim his victory.
2 more examples
We waited for the storm to relent before we ventured outside.
WORF: When my foster brother and I were of age, we entered the Starfleet Academy. He hated it and returned to Gault. I stayed. KONMEL: You have not spent much time among your own kind. WORF: Hardly none. KORRIS: So, when the night was still and quiet, and the sound of the blood rushing through your veins filled your ears, the only way to silence it was to slip out into the night and, like the hunter that spawned you, join in the struggle of life and death. You were unable KONMEL: And those around you did not understand. You frightened them. KORRIS: They shunned you. Cursed you. Called you vile names, and you knew not why. Even now do you know why you are driven? Why you cannot relent or repent or confess or abstain? How could you know? There have been no other Klingons to lead you to that knowledge. WORF: Yes. Yes, those feelings are part of me. But I control them. They do not rule me. KORRIS: Yes. To fit in, the humans demand that you change the one thing that you cannot change. Yet, because you cannot, you do. That too is the mark of the warrior. You said that I mock you. I do not. I salute you.
1988 March 21, Heart of Glory (Star Trek: The Next Generation) (Science Fiction), Paramount Domestic Television, →OCLC - obsoletetransitiveTo lessen, make less severe or intense.
But nothing might relent her hastie flight; / So deepe the deadly feare of that foule swaine / Was earst impressed in her gentle spright […]
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC - datedintransitiveTo become less rigid or hard; to soften; to yield, for example by dissolving or melting
[Salt of tartar] placed in a cellar will […] begin to relent.
1669, Robert Boyle, The History of Fluidity and Firmness1 more example
When opening buds salute the welcome day, / And earth, relenting, feels the genial ray.
1717, Alexander Pope, “Eloisa to Abelard”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC
plural relents
- A stay; a stop; a delay.
The pistons of this engine moved without relent.
2016, Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad, Fleet (2017), page 1932 more examples
There was no relent, my dear, as we pulled each other in.
2015, Mel Parsons, “First Sign of Trouble”She forward went[…] Ne rested till she came without relent Unto the land of Amazons.
1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC - obsoleteA relenting.
comparative more relent · superlative most relent
- obsoleteSofthearted; yielding.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinre-
- Anglo-Normanrelentir
- Middle Englishrelenten
- Englishrelent
From Middle English relenten, from Anglo-Norman relentir, from Latin re- + lentare (“to bend”), from lentus (“soft, pliant, slow”). Earliest recording dates to 1526. The noun is from the verb.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian омилостивявам се, стихвам
- омилостивявам се (omilostivjavam se)become less severe, give in
- стихвам (stihvam)slacken, abate
- омеквам (omekvam)become less rigid, yield
Czech smilovat se, obměkčit se
- smilovat sebecome less severe, give in
- obměkčit sebecome less severe, give in
- slitovat sebecome less severe, give in
- ustoupitbecome less severe, give in
- povolitbecome less severe, give in
- dát se obměkčitbecome less severe, give in
- povolovatbecome less severe, give in
- ochabnoutslacken, abate
- polevitslacken, abate
- povolovatslacken, abate
- zmírnit seslacken, abate
- změknoutbecome less rigid, yield
Dutch milderen, verzachten
- milderenbecome less severe, give in
- verzachtenbecome less severe, give in
- verslappenslacken, abate
- verzachtenbecome less rigid, yield
- oplossenbecome less rigid, yield
- smeltenbecome less rigid, yield
- meegevenbecome less rigid, yield
- ontspannenbecome less rigid, yield
- verblijfstop, delay
- oponthoudstop, delay
Finnish lauhtua, leppyä
- lauhtuabecome less severe, give in
- leppyäbecome less severe, give in
- laantuaslacken, abate
- pehmetäbecome less rigid, yield
- taipuabecome less rigid, yield
- viivästysstop, delay
- pysähdysstop, delay
French céder, fléchir
- céderbecome less severe, give in
- fléchirbecome less severe, give in
- délaistop, delay
- fléchissementstop, delay
- se retirerstop, delay
German nachgeben, nachlassen
- nachgebenbecome less severe, give in
- nachlassenslacken, abate
- nachgebenbecome less rigid, yield
Italian cedere, placare
- cederebecome less severe, give in
- placareslacken, abate
Māori whakangāwari, māriri
- whakangāwaribecome less severe, give in
- māriribecome less severe, give in
- whakangoruslacken, abate
- māwheslacken, abate
- tāngangaoslacken, abate
- whakangāwaribecome less rigid, yield
- ngawherebecome less rigid, yield
- haurarobecome less rigid, yield
Persian نرم شدن
- نرم شدن (narm šodan)become less severe, give in
Polish łagodnieć, złagodnieć
- łagodniećbecome less severe, give in
- złagodniećbecome less severe, give in
- mięknąćbecome less severe, give in
- zmięknąćbecome less severe, give in
- ustępowaćbecome less severe, give in
- ustąpićbecome less severe, give in
- uspokajać sięslacken, abate
- uspokoić sięslacken, abate
- słabnąćslacken, abate
- osłabnąćslacken, abate
- mięknąćbecome less rigid, yield
- zmięknąćbecome less rigid, yield
- postójstop, delay
- zatrzymanie sięstop, delay
Romanian a se înmuia
- a se înmuiabecome less severe, give in
Russian смягча́ться
- смягча́ться (smjaxčátʹsja)become less severe, give in
Spanish ceder, relentecer
- cederbecome less severe, give in
- relentecerbecome less severe, give in
- relentecersebecome less severe, give in
- cederslacken, abate
- cejarslacken, abate
- amainarslacken, abate
- relentecerslacken, abate
- relentecerseslacken, abate
Thai อ่อนข้อ
- อ่อนข้อ (ɔ̀ɔn-kɔ̂ɔ)become less severe, give in
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with relent
Cite this entry
relent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/relent
“relent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/relent. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “relent,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/relent.
Source: relent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.