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• Lenten
  Lenten

  adjective

  of, relating to, or suitable for Lent.
• lenten
  lenten

  adjective

  (often capital) of or relating to Lent

Lenten

American  

[len-tn] / ˈlɛn tn /

Or lenten

adjective

1. of, relating to, or suitable for Lent.

2. suggesting Lent, as in austerity, frugality, or rigorousness; meager.

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lenten British  

/ ˈlɛntən /

adjective

1. (often capital) of or relating to Lent

2. archaic spare, plain, or meagre

   lenten fare

3. archaic cold, austere, or sombre

   a lenten lover

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Etymology

Origin of Lenten

First recorded before 900; Middle English lente(n) “spring, springtime, Lent,” noun use of Old English noun and adjective lengten, læncgten, lencten “spring, springtime, Lent; of springtime, Lenten”; later taken as an adjective ending in -en; see origin at Lent, -en ²

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Lenten lenten

This insight reminds me of a Lenten devotional piece by Jesuit Rick Ganz, who discloses what motivates repentance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

It allowed me to sing hallelujah in the Lenten season,” referring to the run-up to Easter.

From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2025

That didn’t include the readers who reached out to me after I wrote a column about Mami’s capirotada — Mexican Lenten bread pudding.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2024

The posters will be released weekly over the course of this Lenten season leading up to Easter.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 1, 2024

My faith was buttressed by a book by Jacques Maritain rather than by the experience of worship at a Lenten service with classmates or serving at some old lady’s funeral.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez

In the 12th and 13th centuries, spring was called lent or lenten, while fall was called harvest.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2018

As it happens, I was already on my annual lenten social media sabbatical when The Cambridge Analytica news broke.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2018

Last week he preached a lenten sermon at St. Stephen's Church at loth and Chestnut Sts.,

From Time Magazine Archive

Thus the supposed death more frequently occurred at the beginning of spring, and was mourned for a lenten period of forty days, which the vernal equinox brought to a close.

From The Eliminator; or, Skeleton Keys to Sacerdotal Secrets by Richard B. Westbrook

The lenten lilies, through the frost that push, Their yellow heads withhold: The woodland willow stands a lonely bush Of nebulous gold; There the Spring-goddess cowers in faint attire Of frightened fire. 

From The Poetical Works of Robert Bridges by Robert Bridges

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