respite

1. 1.

   a (temporary) relief from harm or discomfort

   Synonymsreprieve

   Broaderrelief
2. 2.

   a pause from doing something (as work)

   “we took a 10-minute break”

   “he took time out to recuperate”

   Synonymsrecessbreaktime out

   Broaderpause

   Narrowerspring break
3. 3.

   an interruption in the intensity or amount of something

   Synonymssuspensionreprievehiatusabatement

   Broaderinterruption

   Narrowerdefervescenceremission
4. 4.

   a pause for relaxation

   “people actually accomplish more when they take time for short rests”

   Synonymsrestreliefrest period

   Broaderpause

   Narrowerbreath
5. 5.

   the act of reprieving; postponing or remitting punishment

   Synonymsreprieve

   Broaderclemency

   law

1. 1.

   postpone the punishment of a convicted criminal, such as an execution

   Synonymsreprieve

   Broaderpostpone

Other forms of respite

plural

respites·

past tense

respited·

present participle

respiting·

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 respite

What does respite mean?

respite means "a (temporary) relief from harm or discomfort". That is the primary sense; the word has 6 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in respite?

respite has 2 syllables: res-pite. The stress falls on "res". In IPA it is /ˈɹɛspɪt/.

What is another word for respite?

Close synonyms include reprieve, recess, break, time out, suspension. 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.

Is respite a common word?

respite 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.