affievolire

to weaken, to diminish

verb ahf-fyeh-voh-LEE-reh Rare

Also means

to fade, to die down

Usage Note

Affievolire describes a gradual weakening of something — a sound, a feeling, a signal, a flame: la voce si affievolisce (the voice grows faint). The reflexive affievolirsi is common. It is a -ire verb conjugated with the -isc- infix: affievolisce (not affievolsce). Auxiliary for the reflexive is essere.

Examples

"Il dolore si è affievolito con il tempo."

Natural Translation

The pain diminished with time.

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