Relaxed

How to spell relaxed

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce relaxed

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does relaxed mean?

1. adjectiveFree from tension, anxiety, or strict formality; calm and at ease.

Relaxed in a sentence

• After the holiday she felt completely relaxed and ready for work.

• The office has a relaxed dress code on Fridays.

Where does relaxed come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The base verb 'relax' comes from the Latin relaxare, meaning 'to loosen' or 'to open up again', formed from the prefix re- 'back' and laxare 'to slacken', itself from laxus meaning 'loose' or 'slack'. English took the word in during the late 1300s, by way of Old French, originally in a fairly physical or medical sense of loosening the body, the bowels, or a tightened muscle. Over the centuries the meaning softened into the mental sense of easing tension and becoming calm, and the adjective 'relaxed' simply adds the -ed ending to describe a person or atmosphere in that loosened, untroubled state. The same Latin laxus also gave English 'lax' and 'laxative', which keeps the original idea of looseness alive. Because the word is built from a clear root plus the regular -ed ending, the spelling holds few surprises beyond remembering the single 'x'.

How the word is built

• re- (back, again)
• lax (loose, slack)
• -ed (past participle/adjective suffix)