clement

clement — adjective

1. If the weather is clement, it is mild and pleasant, without extreme heat, cold,

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

If the weather is clement, it is mild and pleasant, without extreme heat, cold, rain, or strong wind.

Example

After weeks of heavy rain, a clement weekend finally allowed the park to reopen.

collocation: clement weekend

Aiko planted her vegetable garden during the unusually clement autumn season.

clement + season collocation

Common collocations
  • clement weather
  • clement climate
  • clement winter
  • clement weekend
  • clement morning
Synonyms
  • mild

    the common everyday alternative; less formal and far more frequent

  • pleasant

    focuses on the enjoyable effect of the weather rather than its lack of severity

  • temperate

    more technical, often used for climate zones rather than daily weather

Antonyms
  • inclement

    the direct antonym — harsh, stormy, or severe weather

Grammar Patterns

clement + noun (weather, climate, winter, morning)

be + clement

Usage Note

Primarily a formal or literary adjective; in everyday conversation, speakers prefer 'mild' or 'pleasant' to describe agreeable weather.

Common Mistakes

We had a clement day at the beach.
We had a mild day at the beach.
'Clement' sounds overly formal in casual speech; use 'mild' or 'pleasant' instead.

2. A clement person, action, or decision treats someone who has done wrong with kin

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

A clement person, action, or decision treats someone who has done wrong with kindness and does not punish them as harshly as they could.

Example

The judge was clement and sentenced the young man to community service instead of prison.

clement + legal context

Hana's boss was clement about the missed report because of the family emergency.

Common collocations
  • clement judge
  • clement sentence
  • clement decision
  • clement response
  • clement towards
Synonyms
  • lenient

    the standard everyday word for showing flexible or relaxed discipline

  • merciful

    emphasises compassion and forgiveness, especially when severe punishment was possible

  • forgiving

    focuses on letting go of resentment rather than reducing a penalty

Antonyms
  • harsh

    imposing severe or strict punishment

  • severe

    unsparing in judgment or penalty

Grammar Patterns

be + clement + towards/to + someone

clement + noun (judge, sentence, decision, response)

Usage Note

Formal and relatively rare in modern English; 'lenient' is far more common for authority figures showing flexibility, while 'merciful' is used when forgiveness is shown to someone who could have been punished severely.

Common Mistakes

The teacher was clement with the noisy class.
The teacher was lenient with the noisy class.
'Clement' in the merciful sense is rarely used in modern English; 'lenient' is the natural choice.

Word family

  • clemency
    nounC1
  • inclement
    adjectiveB2
  • inclemency
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/2

These three words all describe showing kindness to someone who has done something wrong, but they differ in scope and register. 'Lenient' is the most common choice in everyday English — it means not enforcing rules or punishments as strictly as expected (e.g. a lenient teacher who accepts late homework). 'Merciful' carries a stronger emotional weight: it implies that someone was spared from suffering or severe punishment that they fully deserved (e.g. a merciful ruler who pardons a rebel). 'Forgiving' focuses on the internal act of letting go of resentment rather than reducing an external penalty; it is more personal and emotional. 'Clement' (this sense) is the rarest of the four and belongs to formal written English — you would find it in historical accounts or literary prose rather than in conversation. For example: 'The principal was lenient with the first-time offender' sounds natural; 'the principal was clement' would strike most readers as oddly formal.

lenientmercifulforgiving

Common collocations

Adverbs

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

From Latin 'clemens' (mild, calm, merciful), which entered Middle English through Old French 'clement'. The weather sense and the mercy sense developed side by side — both carry the core idea of 'not harsh or extreme'. The negative form 'inclement' (harsh weather) appeared around the same period and remains far more common in modern English.