Skip to main content
PlainSpell

relent

/ɹɪˈlɛnt/verb, noun

relent is spelled R-E-L-E-N-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, relent means “To give in or be swayed; to become less hard, harsh, or cruel; to show clemency” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in relent?

Letters6: R-E-L-E-N-T
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 3 million words; the 51,738th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is relent?

Relent appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce relent?

  • /ɹɪˈlɛnt/

Relent has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Mélange_a_trois-relent.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of relent

  • relents present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • relenting participle, present
  • relented participle, past
  • more relent comparative
  • most relent superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does relent mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To 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.

  2. 2

    To slacken; to abate.

    We waited for the storm to relent before we ventured outside.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo lessen, make less severe or intense.

  4. 4

    datedTo become less rigid or hard; to soften; to yield, for example by dissolving or melting

noun

  1. 1

    A stay; a stop; a delay.

  2. 2

    obsoleteA relenting.

adjective

  1. 1

    obsoleteSofthearted; yielding.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Relent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcéder, fléchir (become less severe, give in), délai, fléchissement, se retirer (stop, delay)
Germannachgeben (become less severe, give in), nachlassen (slacken, abate)
Spanishceder, relentecer, relentecerse (become less severe, give in), cejar, amainar (slacken, abate)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does relent come from?

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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after relent