1
as in complying
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in merciful
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in succumbing
to cease resistance (as to another's arguments, demands, or control)
the supervisor finally relented in the face of the petition, and allowed employees to take longer lunch breaks
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in decreasing
to grow less in scope or intensity especially gradually
the fury of the storm relented, and the next day the sun finally broke through the clouds
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for relenting
Adjective
-
If 10 percent of people are going to be cruel no matter what and 10 percent will be merciful no matter what, then the greatest battle of our lives, the real one, is not good versus evil.—
Stephanie Dillon,
Rolling Stone,
23 May 2025 -
The Celtics met a merciful end at Madison Square Garden last night, 119-81, and now have a lot to figure out: Tatum will miss a consequential period in his career.—
Sam Settleman,
New York Times,
17 May 2025
Verb
-
The church's front doors lay in pieces, succumbing to the flames and the pressure of the water.—
Noe Padilla,
The Indianapolis Star,
24 Dec. 2024
-
Frey said believes Hoover slipped on the ice, fell to the ground and was unable to get back up before succumbing to harsh weather conditions.—
Craig Shoup,
The Tennessean,
22 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
These prices tend to reflect the higher yielding asking price versus the lower yielding bid price.—
Barnet Sherman,
Forbes,
31 Dec. 2024
-
Net interest income for the quarter was $72.2 million, compared to $62.2 million in the previous year, driven by growth in higher yielding loans, primarily from CCBX.—
Quartz Bot,
Quartz,
8 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
Prosecutors were less forgiving of McIver, who was filmed clashing with officers.—
Brian Niemietz,
New York Daily News,
20 May 2025
-
The feather-light fabric feels like silk, but, unlike the fragile material, these pants are a lot more forgiving, packable, and cost-effective.—
Isis Briones,
Travel + Leisure,
17 May 2025
Verb
-
Residing or working in the country without legal status and submitting false documents to government authorities for a range of benefits or for employment is already a federal crime.—
Ray Stern,
The Arizona Republic,
24 Dec. 2024
-
After submitting those contributions for public matching funds, the Adams campaign raked in an additional $22,000 in taxpayers’ cash off of them, records show.—
Chris Sommerfeldt,
New York Daily News,
23 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
Japan hasn’t been as pliant as Trump seemed to expect.—
William Pesek,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2025
-
Letz is a physically and emotionally pliant but also a verbose actor of great versatility, able to play a standard Second City dad and Chicag’ow type, but also a neurotic (lots of call for that in this show) and a dweeb and, well, whatever gets thrown his way.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
9 May 2025
Adjective
-
Parks-Ramage doesn’t come to a specific conclusion, and although some of his more righteous characters seem to be firmly on the reproduction-is-immoral side, his depiction of Gabriel’s childlike wonder and imagination is tender and loving.—
Ilana Masad,
Los Angeles Times,
30 May 2025
-
This disorder also affects a parent’s ability to be an attentive and loving caregiver.—
Ty Schepis,
The Conversation,
30 May 2025
Verb
-
Though that sentence could also have stopped after four words, the statistics really are bad — conceding around one goal every 10 corners faced.—
Jacob Whitehead,
The Athletic,
3 Jan. 2025
-
No top-flight side has shipped more in this period of a game, with Villa conceding early and late through repeatable scenarios.—
Jacob Tanswell,
The Athletic,
31 Dec. 2024
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Relenting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/relenting. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share