Lessen vs decrease

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

hello,
here is the sentence: if in level flight, engine power is reduced, the thrust is lessened, and the airplane slows down.

I am confused about lessen and decrease, can I use decrease instead of lessen?

thank you for your answers :smiley:

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2

.
Yes, that would be OK.
.

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3

Hi, Amy

Would you agree with this wording: if in level flight, engine power is reduced, the thrust dwindles, and the airplane slows down.
Or is “to dwindle” too poetic for this context?

Thanks!

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4

I wouldn’t say it’s poetic. Look here, for example:

her savings dwindled

I’d say it’s just a question of suitable collocation (?thrust dwindles). And “power dwindles” would be OK, and not poetic.

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5

Hi Alex

The word “dwindle” rubs me the wrong way in that sentence. It feels too gradual and passive, I suppose.
.

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6

Also, you can go from 1 million to 750,000 - that’s a decrease. The amount lessens. But it hasn’t dwindled.

Dwindles implies that it goes down to almost nothing.

Thrust can decrease on an airplane without necessarily impacting any aspect of safety. If thrust “dwindled,” I’d be serious worried!

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7

There is an underlying sense of “wasting away” in “dwindle”, which seems incompatible with the underlying sense of “thrust” (reactive acceleration).

MrP

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8

In level flight, engine power is reduced, the thrust is decreased, and the airplane slows down.

or

In level flight, engine power is reduced, the thrust decreases, and the airplane slows down.

or

In level flight, engine power is reduced resulting in less thrust, slowing the plane down.

You can also use reduced.

Reduce can imply the process, whereas decrease or less implies the result. However the words are often used interchangeably.

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