clement
1 Americanadjective
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mild or merciful in disposition or character; lenient; compassionate.
A clement judge reduced his sentence.
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(of the weather) mild or temperate; pleasant.
noun
adjective
-
merciful
-
(of the weather) mild
Other Word Forms
- clemently adverb
- overclement adjective
Etymology
Origin of clement
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English either from Old French or directly from Latin clēment-, stem of clēmēns “gentle, merciful”
Explanation
Clement weather is lovely and mild. You might describe a beautiful, warm summer evening as clement. Clement can describe a pleasant climate — "The thing about Hawaii is it's such a clement place, always." — or even a merciful, gentle person. It's much more common to hear the antonym of clement, inclement, describing terrible weather. Clement first appeared in the 13th century as a surname, or last name, from the Latin clementem, "mild or placid," and was used to describe nice weather by the 17th century.
Vocabulary lists containing clement
Antigone
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"'Blaxicans' and Other Reinvented Americans" by Richard Rodriguez
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Democracy in America, Volume I
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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.
Come the super-G and Von Allmen benefited from a low bib number as the snow softened in increasingly clement conditions, meaning later racers struggled for speed.
From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026
The Hampden pitch bore the scars of Saturday's semi-final being played in horrible weather but Sunday's more clement conditions made for an engrossing tie.
From BBC • Jan. 15, 2023
Billions of years ago, before it became a freeze-dried desert, the Red Planet was much more Earth-like, with liquid water and clement temperatures at its surface.
From Scientific American • Jul. 27, 2022
It was already here, in the enticements of broad, flat fields, a clement climate, and the human urge to surge, on horseback or in the driver’s seat.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 21, 2022
Squire Julian Gingivere merely nodded, and addressed them in a regal but distant manner: “Good afternoon. Very clement weather for the time of year, don’t you think?”
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
