Meaning & use
Lenten
Last updated
UK/ˈlentən/
US/ˈlentən/
Meaning
adjectivebefore a nounreligion
Relating to Lent, the forty days of fasting and prayer before Easter in Christianity.
Grammar: Appears before a noun: Lenten fast.
Patterns
- Lenten something
She gave up sweets for her Lenten promise.
The church held a Lenten service on Wednesday.
Fish is a traditional Lenten meal.
Common combinations
- Lenten fast
- He kept a strict Lenten fast.
- Lenten season
- The Lenten season begins in February or March.
- Lenten sacrifice
- Her Lenten sacrifice was chocolate.
- Lenten meal
- They ate a simple Lenten meal.
- Lenten discipline
- Lenten discipline includes prayer.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fasting
- Fasting is the act, while Lenten describes the season.
- penitential
- Penitential stresses regret.
- austere
- Austere means plain and strict, not necessarily religious.
- sober
- Sober is serious in tone.
Word family
Commonly confused: Lenten or lent?
Lenten vs lent
Lent is also the past of lend, which is spelled the same but lowercase.
Practice
When is the Lenten season?
Choose one answer.
Lent is the period before Easter.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Lenten”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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