loosening

Other forms of loosening

plural

loosenings·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about loosening

What does loosening mean?

loosening means "an occurrence of control or strength weakening". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in loosening?

loosening has 3 syllables: loo-se-ning. The stress falls on "loo". In IPA it is /ˈlusənɪŋ/.

What is another word for loosening?

Close synonyms include relaxation, slackening, laxation. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of loosening?

The recorded antonyms are tightening.

Is loosening a common word?

loosening is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.