MEANING
1. To make something less dull or heavy by adding a lighter quality.
2. A substance used to make dough rise.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- leaven with humor
- leaven a serious account
On the page
She leavened the history with dry humor.
Word forms
- Base
- leaven
- Past tense
- leavened
- Past participle
- leavened
- Present participle
- leavening
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- leaven
- Present continuous
- am/is/are leavening
- Present perfect
- have/has leavened
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been leavening
- Past
- leavened
- Past continuous
- was/were leavening
- Past perfect
- had leavened
- Past perfect continuous
- had been leavening
- Future
- will leaven
- Future continuous
- will be leavening
- Future perfect
- will have leavened
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been leavening
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: leaven; leavens; leavened; leavened; leavening. Noun use is uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description, character, dialogue. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: leavens.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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