relax

English

Etymology

From Middle English relaxen, from Old French relaxer, from Latin relaxāre (“relax, loosen, open”), from re- (“back”) + laxāre (“loosen”), from laxus (“loose, free”). By surface analysis, re- +‎ lax (“open, free, loose”).

A man relaxing and reading a book.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈlæks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æks

Verb

relax (third-person singular simple present relaxes, present participle relaxing, simple past and past participle relaxed)

1. (transitive) To make something loose.

   to relax a rope or cord

   to relax the muscles or sinews

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Horror […] all his joynts relax'd.

   1. (transitive, dated) To relieve from constipation; to loosen; to open.

      An aperient relaxes the bowels.

2. (intransitive) To become loose.

   Synonym: expand

3. (transitive) To relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress; to enable to rest; to calm down.

   Amusement relaxes the mind.

4. (intransitive) To rest and become relieved of stress.

   Synonyms: chill out, unwind

   I like to relax by listening to music.

   • 2016, “Let's Learn English level 1”, in VOA Learning English‎^[1], archived from the original on 30 September 2017, Lesson 5: Where Are You?, public domain:

     I relax in the living room.

5. (transitive) To make something less severe or tense.

   to relax discipline

   to relax one's attention or endeavours

6. (intransitive) To become less severe or tense.

   Tensions between the two countries have relaxed somewhat in recent weeks.

7. (transitive) To make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient.
   • 1713, Jonathan Swift, A Preface to Bishop Burnet's Introduction:

     The statute of mortmain […] was at several times relaxed by the legislature.

   • 1953, “Section 2. Jurisdiction”, in Edward Samuel Corwin, editor, The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation‎^[2], page 589:

     The Court rejected the contention that the doctrine of sovereign immunity should be relaxed as inapplicable to suits for specific relief as distinguished from damage suits, saying: "The Government, as representative of the community as a whole, cannot be stopped in its tracks by any plaintiff who presents a disputed question of property or contract right."

8. (intransitive, of codes and regulations) To become more lenient.

Antonyms

• stress, excite

Derived terms

• chillax
• overrelax
• prerelax
• relaxable
• relaxacon
• relaxase
• relaxative
• relaxin
• relaxion
• relaxographic
• relaxography
• relaxometry
• relaxosome
• underrelax
• unlax

Related terms

• relaxation

Descendants

• →? Aragonese: relax
• →? Czech: relax
• → Dutch: relaxen
• →? Galician: relax
• → German: relaxen
• → Indonesian: relaks
• →? Italian: relax
• → Malay: relaks
• → Malay: rilek
  • → English: rilek
• → Polish: relaks, relaksować
• → Spanish: relax
• → Tagalog: relaks
• → Turkish: relaks

Translations

(transitive) to make something loose

• Arabic: اِسْتَرْخَى (istarḵā)

  Hijazi Arabic: هِدي (hidi)

  Moroccan Arabic: طْلق (ṭləq)

• Bulgarian: разхлабвам (bg) (razhlabvam)
• Catalan: relaxar (ca), afluixar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鬆開 / 松开 (zh) (sōngkāi), 放鬆 / 放松 (zh) (fàngsōng)

• Czech: uvolnit (cs)
• Dutch: losmaken (nl)
• Finnish: löysentää (fi), löysätä (fi)
• French: relâcher (fr)
• Galician: relaxar (gl)
• German: lockern (de), entspannen (de)
• Ido: laxigar (io)
• Japanese: くつろがせる (kutsurogaseru)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 늦추다 (ko) (neutchuda)
• Latin: relaxō
• Māori: whakakorokoro, whakangoru, whakatangatanga
• Norwegian: slappe av
• Polish: rozluźniać (pl) impf, rozluźnić (pl) pf, poluzowywać impf, poluzować pf
• Portuguese: soltar (pt), afrouxar (pt)
• Romanian: relaxa (ro), destinde (ro), desface (ro)
• Russian: расслабля́ть (ru) impf (rasslabljátʹ), рассла́бить (ru) pf (rasslábitʹ)
• Spanish: relajar (es), aflojar (es)
• Thai: ผ่อนคลาย (th) (pɔ̀n-klaai)
• Walloon: laispi (wa), låtchî (wa), distinkyî (wa)
• Welsh: llacio (cy)

(intransitive) to become loose

• Arabic: اِسْتَرْخَى (istarḵā)
• Azerbaijani: istirahət etmək, dincəlmək (az)
• Belarusian: расслабля́цца impf (rasslabljácca), рассла́біцца pf (rasslábicca)
• Bulgarian: разхлабвам се (razhlabvam se)
• Catalan: relaxar-se (ca), afluixar-se (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 放鬆下來 / 放松下来 (fàngsōng xiàlái)

• Czech: ^{(please verify)} uvolnit se (cs)
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} losser worden
• Esperanto: malstreĉiĝi
• Finnish: rentoutua (fi), rauhoittua (fi), löystyä (fi)
• German: ^{(please verify)} locker werden
• Ido: laxeskar (io)
• Japanese: くつろぐ (ja) (kutsurogu), リラックスする (ja) (rirakkusu suru)
• Korean: 늦추다 (ko) (neutchuda), 편안히 하다 (pyeonanhi hada)
• Polish: poluzowywać się impf, poluzować się pf
• Portuguese: soltar (pt), afrouxar (pt)
• Russian: расслабля́ться (ru) impf (rasslabljátʹsja), рассла́биться (ru) pf (rasslábitʹsja)
• Spanish: relajar (es)
• Swedish: slappna av (sv)
• Thai: หย่อน (th) (yɔ̀n)
• Ukrainian: розслабля́тися (rozslabljátysja), розсла́битися (rozslábytysja)
• Welsh: ymlacio (cy)

(transitive) to relieve (someone or someone's mind) of stress

• Bulgarian: отпускам (bg) (otpuskam), разпускам (bg) (razpuskam)
• Catalan: relaxar (ca)
• Dutch: ontspannen (nl)
• Finnish: rentouttaa (fi)
• German: entspannen (de)
• Italian: rilassare (it)
• Japanese: 落ち着かせる (ochitsukaseru), 和らげる (ja) (yawarageru), (phrase) 緊張を解く (kinchō o toku)
• Latin: relaxō
• Māori: whakatakupe
• Polish: relaksować impf, zrelaksować pf, odprężać (pl) impf, odprężyć (pl) pf
• Portuguese: relaxar (pt)
• Romanian: relaxa (ro)
• Russian: расслабля́ть (ru) impf (rasslabljátʹ), рассла́бить (ru) pf (rasslábitʹ)
• Spanish: relajarse (es), estar de relax

(intransitive) to rest and become relieved of stress

• Akkadian: napāšum
• Armenian: հանգստանալ (hy) (hangstanal)
• Catalan: relaxar-se (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鬆弛 / 松弛 (zh) (sōngchí)

• Danish: falde til ro, slappe af (da)
• Finnish: rentoutua (fi)
• French: se détendre (fr), se relaxer (fr)
• Galician: relaxarse (gl)
• Georgian: ისვენებს (isvenebs)
• German: sich entspannen (de), relaxen (de)
• Greek: χαλαρώνω (el) (chalaróno)
• Hungarian: kipiheni magát (hu), kikapcsolódik (hu)
• Irish: lig do scíth
• Italian: rilassarsi (it), riposarsi (it)
• Japanese: リラックスする (ja) (rirakkusu suru)
• Polish: relaksować się impf, zrelaksować się pf, odprężać się impf, odprężyć się pf
• Russian: расслабля́ться (ru) impf (rasslabljátʹsja), рассла́биться (ru) pf (rasslábitʹsja)
• Spanish: relajarse (es), reposarse (es)
• Swedish: slappna av (sv), koppla av (sv)
• Ukrainian: розслабля́тися impf (rozslabljátysja), розсла́битися pf (rozslábytysja)

(transitive) to make something less severe or tense

• Bulgarian: отпускам (bg) (otpuskam), смекчавам (bg) (smekčavam)
• Catalan: relaxar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 緩解 / 缓解 (zh) (huǎnjiě), 緩和 / 缓和 (zh) (huǎnhé)

• Dutch: ontspannen (nl)
• Finnish: höllentää (fi), löyhentää (fi)
• German: entspannen (de), lockern (de)
• Japanese: 落ち着かせる (ochitsukaseru), 和らげる (ja) (yawarageru), (phrase) 緊張を解く (kinchō wo toku)
• Polish: rozluźniać (pl) impf, rozluźnić (pl) pf, poluzowywać impf, poluzować pf
• Portuguese: relaxar (pt)
• Romanian: relaxa (ro)
• Russian: ослабля́ть (ru) impf (oslabljátʹ), осла́бить (ru) pf (oslábitʹ), распуска́ть (ru) impf (raspuskátʹ), распусти́ть (ru) pf (raspustítʹ)
• Spanish: relajar (es)
• Ukrainian: послабля́ти (poslabljáty)

(intransitive) to become less severe or tense

• Bulgarian: отпускам се (otpuskam se)
• Catalan: relaxar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 緩解 / 缓解 (zh) (huǎnjiě), 緩和 / 缓和 (zh) (huǎnhé)

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} ontspannen (nl), ^{(please verify)} losser worden
• Esperanto: senstreĉiĝi
• Finnish: rentoutua (fi), rauhoittua (fi), löystyä (fi), relata (fi) (slang)
• French: se détendre (fr)
• German: ^{(please verify)} entspannen (de), ^{(please verify)} locker werden
• Japanese: 落ち着く (ja) (ochitsuku), (phrase) 緊張を解く (kinchō o toku), (colloquial) ほっとする (hotto suru)
• Māori: whakanā
• Polish: rozluźniać się impf, rozluźnić się pf
• Portuguese: relaxar (pt)
• Romanian: relaxa (ro)
• Russian: распуска́ться (ru) impf (raspuskátʹsja), распусти́ться (ru) pf (raspustítʹsja)
• Spanish: relajar (es)
• Welsh: ymlacio (cy)

(transitive) to make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient

• Catalan: relaxar (ca), afluixar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 緩和 / 缓和 (zh) (huǎnhé), 缓和 (zh) (huǎnhé)

• Czech: uvolnit (cs)
• Dutch: ontspannen (nl)
• Finnish: höllentää (fi)
• German: entspannen (de), lockern (de)
• Japanese: 緩和する (kanwa suru), 緩める (ja) (yurumeru)
• Polish: łagodzić (pl) impf, złagodzić (pl) pf
• Russian: смягча́ть (ru) impf (smjaxčátʹ), смягчи́ть (ru) pf (smjaxčítʹ)
• Spanish: relajar (es)
• Telugu: సడలించు (te) (saḍaliñcu)
• Thai: ลดหย่อน (th)

(intransitive) to become more lenient

• Catalan: relaxar-se (ca)
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} ontspannen (nl), ^{(please verify)} losser worden
• Finnish: höllentyä (fi), hölletä (fi)
• German: ^{(please verify)} entspannen (de), ^{(please verify)} locker werden
• Japanese: 緩和する (kanwa suru), 緩める (ja) (yurumeru)
• Polish: łagodnieć (pl) impf, złagodnieć pf
• Romanian: relaxa (ro)
• Russian: смягча́ться (ru) impf (smjaxčátʹsja), смягчи́ться (ru) pf (smjaxčítʹsja)
• Spanish: relajar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: успокоявам се (uspokojavam se)
• Esperanto: trankviliĝi
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: χαυνόω (khaunóō)

• Japanese: 落ち着く (ja) (ochitsuku)
• Khmer: បន្ធូរអារម្មណ៍ (bɑntʰuu aarɑm)
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: relaxar (pt)
• Romanian: relaxa (ro), destinde (ro)
• Swedish: förslappa (sv)
• Thai: ผ่อนคลาย (th) (pɔ̀n-klaai), หย่อนใจ
• Vietnamese: bình tĩnh (vi)
• Volapük: ^{(please verify)} takädön (vo)

Anagrams

• laxer, raxle

Aragonese

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, derived from ellipsis of English relaxation or erroneous borrowing of English relax.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reˈlaɡs/
• Rhymes: -aɡs

Noun

relax m (uncountable)

1. relaxation

   Synonyms: relaxación, relaxamiento, relaxe

References

• Diccionario ortografico de l'aragonés (Seguntes la PO de l'EFA)

Czech

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, derived from ellipsis of English relaxation or erroneous borrowing of English relax.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈrɛlaks]
• Hyphenation: re‧lax

Noun

relax m inan

1. relaxation

   Synonym: relaxace

Declension

Declension of relax (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	relax	relaxy
genitive	relaxu	relaxů
dative	relaxu	relaxům
accusative	relax	relaxy
vocative	relaxe	relaxy
locative	relaxu	relaxech
instrumental	relaxem	relaxy

Further reading

• “relax”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “relax”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

French

Alternative forms

• relaxe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.laks/
• Homophone: relaxe

Adjective

relax (feminine relaxe, masculine plural relax, feminine plural relaxes)

1. relaxed

   Synonyms: calme, décontracté, détendu, serein, zen

Further reading

• “relax”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
• “relax”, in Dictionnaire français en ligne Larousse

Galician

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, derived from ellipsis of English relaxation or erroneous borrowing of English relax.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɛlaks/ [ˈrɛ.lɑks̺]
• Rhymes: -ɛlaks

Noun

relax m (uncountable)

1. relaxation

   Synonyms: relaxación, relaxamento

Further reading

• “relax”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁiˈlɛks/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Verb

relax

1. singular imperative of relaxen

Italian

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, derived from ellipsis of English relaxation or erroneous borrowing of English relax.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reˈlaks/
• Rhymes: -aks
• Hyphenation: re‧làx

Noun

relax m (uncountable)

1. relaxation

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English relax. The sense "relaxation" is a pseudo-anglicism, derived from ellipsis of English relaxation or erroneous borrowing of English relax.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reˈlaɡs/ [reˈlaɣ̞s]
• Rhymes: -aɡs
• Syllabification: re‧lax

Noun

relax m (uncountable)

1. relaxation

Derived terms

• estar de relax

Interjection

relax

1. relax!

Further reading

• “relax”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025