Antonyms of noun tightening

1 sense of tightening

Sense 1
tightening -- (the act of making something tighter; "the tightening of economic controls")
       Antonym of loosening (Sense 2)
      => loosening, laxation -- (the act of making something less tight)

Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun tightening

1 sense of tightening

Sense 1
tightening -- (the act of making something tighter; "the tightening of economic controls")
       => alteration, modification, adjustment -- (the act of making something different (as e.g. the size of a garment))

Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb tighten

4 senses of tighten

Sense 1
tighten, fasten -- (make tight or tighter; "Tighten the wire")
       => change, alter, modify -- (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue")

Sense 2
tighten -- (become tight or tighter; "The rope tightened")
       => change -- (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature; "She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night")

Sense 3
stiffen, tighten, tighten up, constrain -- (restrict; "Tighten the rules"; "stiffen the regulations")
       => restrict, restrain, trammel, limit, bound, confine, throttle -- (place limits on (extent or access); "restrict the use of this parking lot"; "limit the time you can spend with your friends")

Sense 4
reduce, tighten -- (narrow or limit; "reduce the influx of foreigners")
       => restrict, restrain, trammel, limit, bound, confine, throttle -- (place limits on (extent or access); "restrict the use of this parking lot"; "limit the time you can spend with your friends")