assuage
Americanverb (used with object)
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assuages,
present (3rd person singular)
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assuaged,
past participle, past
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assuaging
present participle
verb
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to soothe, moderate, or relieve (grief, pain, etc)
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to give relief to (thirst, appetite, etc); satisfy
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to pacify; calm
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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assuagesimple
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assuagessimple
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have assuagedperfect
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has assuagedperfect
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am assuagingprogressive
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are assuagingprogressive
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is assuagingprogressive
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have been assuagingperfect progressive
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has been assuagingperfect progressive
Past
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assuagedsimple
-
had assuagedperfect
-
was assuagingprogressive
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were assuagingprogressive
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had been assuagingperfect progressive
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.
Vocabulary lists containing assuage
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To Kill a Mockingbird
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The Giver
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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.
See Examples For:
Agreements on editorial boards or ombudsmen are typically made to assuage regulatory concerns over a change in media ownership.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
"She got stuck into gritty, controversial, but crucial causes partly because she had a fine, natural social conscience, but also to assuage nagging feelings of worthlessness."
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Amy’s pitch, Chief Executive Paul Schiefer said, is tasty, healthy meals that can assuage people’s guilt about reaching for something quick.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Merz sought to assuage his critics this week, insisting that "long-term lessons" would be drawn from the difficult summer.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
Perhaps, she said, there is something else she can tell you to assuage your curiosity.
From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk
Tuesday's move assuages what had been growing frustration at the lack of a big picture vision from the Labour government.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2026
What she notices about pizza is that pizza “is like a smiling face: It assuages the fear of complexity by showing everything on its surface.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2024
Having Castillo atop the rotation certainly assuages many of those feelings.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 5, 2023
It assuages the fear and tension that’s been tormenting Wood throughout the film because here she is believed, and she’s not alone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2022
Sure I’m by nature form’d for misery 268 Beyond the rest of humankind, or else ’Tis a false saying, though a common one, “That time assuages grief.”
From The Comedies of Terence by George Colman
Immediately, my worries were assuaged — there were, in fact, women there.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
“He assuaged our concerns, and we moved on,” Gerald said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
That hasn’t assuaged concerns among some that a dot-com-style bubble may be building, especially given the sharp run-up.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
In an instant, Urbina’s fears had been assuaged.
From Salon ● May 2, 2026
Safiya and Aisha were harder to read, but for the time being her kids’ fears had been assuaged and now Kathy only had to worry about her own.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Given the stock’s retreat over recent months, stronger-than-expected results, amid low expectations, “could go a long way in assuaging several of these investor concerns.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
The goal was to provide enterprise customers more powerful tools while assuaging the White House’s concerns that they could be weaponized by bad actors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
The presence of the Ivorian army in the remote and long-neglected northeast, hundreds of kilometres from the economic capital Abidjan, has succeeded in assuaging locals' concerns -- to an extent.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2025
"A sincere apology would acknowledge that grievance and, in my view, would go some way to assuaging the sense of injustice," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2024
During the first months of their marriage, he called Celia every night, his gentle voice assuaging her.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
