mild or merciful in disposition or character; lenient; compassionate.
A clement judge reduced his sentence.
(of the weather) mild or temperate; pleasant.
merciful
(of the weather) mild
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English either from Old French or directly from Latin clēment-, stem of clēmēns “gentle, merciful”
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.
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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
A planet’s atmosphere plays an even bigger role; if it’s loaded with greenhouse gases, then it needs to be farther out from the star to be clement.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 6, 2023
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
Los Angeles bills itself as the home of endlessly clement weather.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 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
The investigation said Neal failed to ensure whistleblower complaints about his relationship with Clement were handled appropriately.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Clement Boher, a 37-year-old resident, said he and his family had been on alert since he saw plumes of smoke rise about the forest on Sunday night.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Writer Clement Gelly asked Brazilian soccer announcer Fernando Camargo about the thought process behind great commentary—and it turns out his insights apply off the field, too.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026
Sir Keir said that in electoral terms his success should sit alongside Clement Attlee's victory in 1945 and Sir Tony Blair's in 1997.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
Chicken’s favorite place on Clement was the fish market.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
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.
