relaxing/ relaxed

[hellokitty]

Hi teachers,
What is difference between “a relaxing holiday” and “a relaxed holiday”?

Kitty

[Naamplao]

Hi teachers,
What is difference between “a relaxing holiday” and “a relaxed holiday”?

Kitty

Relaxed as an adjective means no pressure, unperturbed. So a relaxed holiday is one which not stressful, everything is going smooth and trouble free.

A relaxing holiday is one where you do nothing physical. You spend your time eating, listening to music or lying in the sun in a deck chair............mmmmmmmm sounds nice

[riverkid]

Hi teachers,
What is difference between “a relaxing holiday” and “a relaxed holiday”?

Kitty

On a personal level, I don't agree with Naamplao as a holiday spent doing nothing physical, lazing around the beach or the pool is, to me, the very antithesis of a relaxing holiday.

Often, most often [??] inanimate nouns cannot be "adjective + ed". A movie cannot be bored, only boring. People can be bored by a boring movie.

Obviously, this is one adjective that has made the jump to 'holiday'. 'vacation' too, I suspect so. I don't think it has made such a leap that it works with all nouns,

*a relaxed chair/sofa/bed/...

[hellokitty]

Thank you Naamplao for the clear and easy-to-understand answer.
Thank you riverkid for the additional information.

By the way, I'm wondering if it's better to add "the" before "difference" to my original question?

Kitty

[riverkid]

By the way, I'm wondering if it's better to add "the" before "difference" to my original question?

Kitty

I meant to mention that but I forgot. Yes, you need 'the' there, Kitty.

[hellokitty]

Thanks again, riverkid!

kitty

[engee30]

On a personal level, I don't agree with Naamplao as a holiday spent doing nothing physical, lazing around the beach or the pool is, to me, the very antithesis of a relaxing holiday.

Often, most often [??] inanimate nouns cannot be "adjective + ed". A movie cannot be bored, only boring. People can be bored by a boring movie.

Obviously, this is one adjective that has made the jump to 'holiday'. 'vacation' too, I suspect so. I don't think it has made such a leap that it works with all nouns,

*a relaxed chair/sofa/bed/...

I'm not a native, but I think Naamplao is right as well as you are to some extent, Riverkid.
There's usually a considerable difference between adjectives ending in -ing and -ed. But as for the noun holiday, it's similar to the use of the above adjectives with the noun atmosphere:

Sophia did her best to provide a relaxing atmosphere in her home. (= pleasant, and making you or others feel relaxed)
Sophia did her best to provide her students with classes in a relaxed atmosphere. (= casual, and making others not being too much worried about something)