verb
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to make or become looser
-
to make or become slower, less intense, etc
Other Word Forms
- unslackened adjective
- unslackening adjective
Etymology
Origin of slacken
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You absolutely must allow your lower face to slacken naturally, which may be right around the moment Kardashian parts her artificially plumped lips to make a heroic attempt at acting.
From Salon • Nov. 6, 2025
The onions will slacken and sweeten over indirect heat while he assembles the rest.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025
The report cautioned that it is too early to determine what caused the rate to slacken.
From BBC • Dec. 11, 2024
And, with the tight job market starting to slacken, some predict 2024 will be the year employers finally clamp down.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 4, 2024
He hurried away from them with a shiver of eerie alarm and did not slacken his pace until the soil crumbled to dry sand beneath his feet and they had been left behind.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
