allay

[ uh-ley ]

verb (used with object)

, al·layed, al·lay·ing.

1. to put (fear, doubt, suspicion, anger, etc.) to rest; calm; quiet.

   Synonyms: assuage, soften

   Antonyms: excite

2. to lessen or relieve; mitigate; alleviate:

   to allay pain.

   Synonyms: ease, temper, mollify, lighten

allay

/ əˈleɪ /

verb

1. to relieve (pain, grief, etc) or be relieved
2. tr to reduce (fear, anger, etc)

Other Words From

• al·layer noun
• unal·layed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of allay¹

before 1000; Middle English aleyen, Old English ālecgan to put down, allay ( ā- a- ³ + lecgan to lay ¹ ); spelling -ll- shows influence of the now obsolete allege (< Anglo-French, Old French aleg ( i ) er; allege ) to alleviate, allay

Word History and Origins

Origin of allay¹

Old English ālecgan to put down, from lecgan to lay ¹

Synonym Study

Allay, moderate, soothe mean to reduce excitement or emotion. To allay is to lay to rest or lull to a sense of security, possibly by making the emotion seem unjustified: to allay suspicion, anxiety, fears. To moderate is to tone down any excess and thus to restore calm: to moderate the expression of one's grief. To soothe is to exert a pacifying or tranquilizing influence: to soothe a terrified child.

Example Sentences

Museums have protocols in place to allay many of these fears, including delayed data release policies and temporary embargoes that allow researchers to finish projects before their data are made available to the public.

From Popular-Science

He couldn’t keep Washington organized on offense, and there was no one on court to allay the heavy pressure he met every time he touched the ball, but Beal still found a way to create shots — even if they weren’t always pretty.

From Washington Post

ByteDance said Oracle has the “right to conduct security inspections on TikTok’s US source code” in order to allay supposed security concerns.

From MIT Technology Review

Before long, those answers were able to allay the doubts and concerns of investors who maybe didn’t fully understand Canva’s business, but who recognized the opportunity that was beginning to emerge with design and publishing tools moving online.

From Fortune

Even if states sort out how to protect the vote of vulnerable community members, such as keeping some physical polling places open, the findings may do little to allay other recent concerns over mail-in voting, Barber acknowledges.

From Science News

Experts [predict] that over a million people in the region need food aid to allay shortages.

From The Daily Beast

The report calls on the Palestinians to recognize that Israeli security concerns are legitimate and to take steps to allay these.

From The Daily Beast

Friday morning, however, we got two pieces of data that should allay those concerns, at least for now.

From The Daily Beast

The fact that the government employee in question is a McKinsey alumnus does not allay any of my concerns.

From The Daily Beast

Last night, he reassured - but can one speech allay fears stoked over three harrowing years?

From The Daily Beast

Le jour suyvant, j'allay visiter les Sauvages, et y fis mon accoustum, ainsy qu j'ay dict de Kinibqui.

From Project Gutenberg

She was bien souffrante, and she was filled with vague dread, which only her husband's presence could allay.

From Project Gutenberg

By the time it ceased they had eaten their supper of hard bread and harder beef, and lighted their pipes to allay their thirst.

From Project Gutenberg

Jocelyn kept moving, so that the changing air wafted over the little bare limbs might allay the fever.

From Project Gutenberg

To allay it, I shall to-day search entire ship carefully from stem to stern.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• alleviate
• assuage
• calm
• ease
• lessen
• mitigate
• mollify
• pacify