abate vs lessen
Abate and lessen both mean a bad thing grows smaller, from different directions. To abate is for a force — a storm, pain, an outcry — to die down of its own accord; it is usually intransitive and slightly formal. To lessen is the plain word for making something smaller in amount, degree, or intensity, or for becoming smaller: you lessen a risk, and a noise lessens. Abate reports a force subsiding; lessen reports a quantity shrinking.
Quick rule: a hostile force dies down by itself (storm, uproar) → abate; an amount or degree gets smaller (risk, impact) → lessen.
A man waits out a downpour under a bus-shelter roof. Nobody turns the rain off — it tires on its own, the furious slant straightening and thinning, until he puts a palm out past the roof's edge and the storm's last drop lands in it, and he walks off up the wet street.
/əˈbeɪt//əˈbeɪt/·verbOne person cries on a bench beneath a thick grey heaviness while the other keeps an arm around their shoulders, patting slow and steady; the tears dry, the crier straightens, and the heaviness thins to a small smudge — not gone, just made smaller.
/ˈlesən//ˈlesən/·verbBoth verbs move things downward, and their builds explain the feel. Abate comes through Old French abattre, 'to beat down' — a violent thing battered until it gives way — which is why it clings to storms, floods, fevers, and uproars, and why it usually happens by itself. Lessen is plain English, 'less' with a verb ending, and carries no drama at all: it counts. Anything with an amount can lessen or be lessened — risk, impact, likelihood, importance — no violence required. One word watches a force tire; the other watches a number drop.
What each means
abate
To abate is to die down — to become weaker, gentler, or less severe over time. Storms abate, pain abates, public anger abates. The word almost always describes the force of something unpleasant or overwhelming draining away rather than the thing disappearing all at once: it is still there, but its intensity is easing off. Unlike diminish, which tracks a shrinking in size or number, abate is about a violent or unwelcome thing losing its grip. It can also be used transitively — to reduce something deliberately, as in measures taken to abate noise pollution.
lessen
To lessen something is to make it smaller in amount, degree, or intensity — the plain, neutral 'make less'. You lessen the risk, the impact, the pain, the chance of failure: a measurable quantity simply goes down. It is the most everyday and least dramatic member of its family. Unlike mitigate, which counters or cushions a harmful effect, and unlike ease, which gently soothes something felt, lessen just reduces how much of something there is. It can also be intransitive — over time the pressure lessened on its own.
At a glance
| abate | lessen | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | die down, lose intensity | make or become smaller in amount or degree |
| What it takes | hostile forces: storms, pain, uproar | quantities: risk, impact, likelihood |
| Grammar | usually intransitive | transitive or intransitive |
| Register | somewhat formal, idiomatic | neutral, general-purpose |
| Root | Old French abattre, to beat down | plain English: less + -en |
| Example | The storm abated. | Wearing a helmet lessens the risk. |
How to remember the difference
Give the sentence a subject test. If the bad thing itself is doing the settling — the downpour tiring over the bus shelter until its last drop lands in an outstretched palm — it abates: a force spending itself. If something is being trimmed down, or simply counts for less — the grey weight over the crier's head thinned to a smudge — it lessens: a quantity on its way down. Forces abate; amounts lessen.
Examples
abate
- The gale abated before the ferries resumed.
- His enthusiasm for the scheme showed no sign of abating.
- The controversy abated once the report was published in full.
lessen
- Regular breaks lessen the strain of screen work.
- The dunes lessen the force of the waves before they reach the town.
- Over the years, her resentment gradually lessened.
They overlap where a force also has a degree — pain and noise can abate or lessen, with abate sounding more formal and more final. Elsewhere they part ways: risks, chances, and impacts are lessened, never abated; and the set phrase 'no sign of abating' has no lessen equivalent. When in doubt, lessen is the safe general word; abate is the stylish one reserved for forces.
FAQ
- What is the difference between abate and lessen?
- Abate is for a hostile force — a storm, pain, an uproar — dying down of its own accord, and is usually intransitive. Lessen is the plain word for an amount or degree getting smaller, or being made smaller: risk, impact, likelihood. A force subsiding versus a quantity shrinking.
- Are abate and lessen synonyms?
- Near-synonyms where a force has a measurable degree: pain can abate or lessen. But abate never takes plain quantities (you cannot abate a risk), and lessen never carries abate's storm-and-outcry drama.
- Can I say 'the risk abated'?
- It sounds wrong — risks are quantities, so they lessen, decrease, or are reduced. Abate wants a force with fury to lose: a storm, a fever, public anger.
- Which is more formal?
- Abate. 'Show no sign of abating' is elegant written English; lessen is neutral and comfortable anywhere.
- What are the noun forms?
- Abatement (noise abatement, tax abatement) and lessening ('a lessening of tensions'). Mind the spelling of lessen versus 'lesson'.
- How do you pronounce abate and lessen?
- Abate is /əˈbeɪt/, stressed on the second syllable. Lessen is /ˈlesən/ — it sounds exactly like 'lesson', which is why the spelling trips people.