Synonyms

assuage

American

[uh-sweyj, uh-sweyzh] / əˈsweɪdʒ, əˈsweɪʒ /

verb (used with object)

to make milder or less severe; alleviate; ease; mitigate.

to assuage one's grief;
to assuage one's pain.

Synonyms:

relieve, lessen, diminish, allay
to appease; satisfy; sate.

to assuage one's hunger.
to soothe, calm, or mollify.

to assuage his fears;
to assuage her anger.

assuage British

/ əˈsweɪdʒ, əˈsweɪsɪv /

verb

to soothe, moderate, or relieve (grief, pain, etc)
to give relief to (thirst, appetite, etc); satisfy
to pacify; calm

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of assuage

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English aswagen, from Old French asouagier, from unrecorded Vulgar Latin assuāviāre, equivalent to Latin as- as- + -suāviāre, verbal derivative of Latin suāvis “agreeable to the taste, pleasant” ( cf. suave; akin to sweet )

Explanation

If you assuage an unpleasant feeling, you make it go away. Assuaging your hunger by eating a bag of marshmallows may cause you other unpleasant feelings. The most common things that we assuage are fears, concerns, guilt, grief, anxiety, and anger. That makes a lot of sense — these are all things we seek relief from. The word comes from Old French assouagier, from the Latin root suavis, "sweet" — think of adding a bit of honey to something unpleasant. A word with a similar meaning is mollify.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Assuage their fears, refrain from escalating, and receive it all—even the concerns you’ve heard a million times by now—with compassion.

From Slate • May 3, 2021

Cauterucci: Assuage your guilt and/or look like you’re doing the right thing to other people.

From Slate • Jan. 7, 2021

Assuage, as-swāj′, v.t. to soften, mitigate, or allay.—v.i. to abate or subside: to diminish.—n.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

By direction of the Majesty's Ministry, Hanbury still tried industriously, cash in both hands; tried various things: "Assuage the Czarina's mind; reconcile her to King Friedrich;"—all in vain.

From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 17 by Carlyle, Thomas

Go forth and prosper then, emprizing band; May He, who in the hollow of his hand The ocean holds, and rules the whirlwind's sweep, Assuage its wrath, and guide you on the deep!

From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 14, No. 388, September 5, 1829 by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023