dampen

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˈdæmpən/

📖 Definitions

  1. verb
    To make something slightly wet or moist; to moisten.; To reduce the intensity, strength, or enthusiasm of something; to diminish or suppress.; To reduce the amplitude of vibrations or oscillations; to deaden sound or vibration.

🔗 Details

Word forms

3rd sing.: dampens Past: dampened Past part.: dampened Pres part.: dampening

Collocations

dampen enthusiasmdampen spiritsdampen expectationsdampen the mooddampen sound

Derivatives

dampdampnessdampenerdampeningundampened

Synonyms

reducediminishlessensubduemutesuppress

Antonyms

intensifyamplifyheightenboost

Commonly confused

damp
EN: 'Damp' is an adjective or noun meaning slightly wet; 'dampen' is the verb meaning to make damp or to reduce/diminish.
dampen
EN: Not to be confused with 'dampen' used only in the physical sense; it is more commonly used figuratively (e.g., dampen enthusiasm).

Spelling tips

EN: Remember that 'dampen' ends with the verb-forming suffix '-en'; the adjective/noun form is simply 'damp' without the '-en'.

💬 Examples

  1. She dampened the cloth before wiping down the dusty shelves.

  2. The unexpected rain dampened the crowd's enthusiasm for the outdoor concert.

  3. The rubber pads help dampen the vibrations from the heavy machinery.