relieve
Americanverb (used with object)
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to ease or alleviate (pain, distress, anxiety, need, etc.).
- Antonyms:
- intensify
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to free from anxiety, fear, pain, etc.
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to free from need, poverty, etc.
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to bring effective aid to (a besieged town, military position, etc.).
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to ease (a person) of any burden, wrong, or oppression, as by legal means.
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to reduce (a pressure, load, weight, etc., on a device or object under stress).
to relieve the steam pressure; to relieve the stress on the supporting walls.
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to make less tedious, unpleasant, or monotonous; break or vary the sameness of.
curtains to relieve the drabness of the room.
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to bring into relief or prominence; heighten the effect of.
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to release (one on duty) by coming as or providing a substitute or replacement.
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Machinery.
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to free (a closed space, as a tank, boiler, etc.) of more than a desirable pressure or vacuum.
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to reduce (the pressure or vacuum in such a space) to a desirable level.
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Baseball. to replace (a pitcher).
verb (used without object)
idioms
verb
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to bring alleviation of (pain, distress, etc) to (someone)
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to bring aid or assistance to (someone in need, a disaster area, etc)
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to take over the duties or watch of (someone)
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to bring aid or a relieving force to (a besieged town, city, etc)
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to free (someone) from an obligation
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to make (something) less unpleasant, arduous, or monotonous
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to bring into relief or prominence, as by contrast
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informal (foll by of) to take from
the thief relieved him of his watch
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to urinate or defecate
Synonym Usage
See comfort.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonrelievingadjective
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quasi-relievedadjective
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relievableadjective
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unrelievableadjective
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unrelievedadjective
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unrelievingadjective
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relievedlyadverb
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unrelievedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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relievesimple
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relievessimple
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have relievedperfect
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has relievedperfect
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am relievingprogressive
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are relievingprogressive
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is relievingprogressive
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have been relievingperfect progressive
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has been relievingperfect progressive
Past
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relievedsimple
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had relievedperfect
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was relievingprogressive
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were relievingprogressive
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had been relievingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of relieve
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English releven from Middle French relever “to raise,” from Latin relevāre “to reduce the load of, lighten,” equivalent to re- “again, again and again”+ levāre “to raise,” derivative of levis “light in weight”; see re-
Explanation
To relieve is to ease a burden or take over for someone. An aspirin can relieve a headache, and a substitute can relieve the teacher who fell asleep on her desk after lunch. Relieve comes from the Latin word relevare meaning "to help" or "make light again." An ice pack might relieve a pain in your elbow, but you can also be relieved of your duties if you get fired (or taken out to lunch). A thief might even relieve you of your wallet. Like thief, relieve is the rare word that actually follows the "i" before "e" rule ("i" before "e" except after "c" or when sounded as "a" as in "neighbor" and "weigh"). Aren't you relieved?
Vocabulary lists containing relieve
The Circuit
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How I Became a Ghost
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Slam!
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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:
The decision on whether to relieve Khan of his duties is now subject to a secret ballot by the 125 countries party to the International Criminal Court during a closed-door session.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Doing so would relieve the court of diverting its other resources to these ethics matters or, worse, undervaluing them altogether.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026
The conversion of the building, located on East 42nd Street between Second and Third avenues, is part of a wider effort to relieve the city’s housing crunch by repurposing empty office space.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Backers argue that the bill would help relieve crowding at shelters, which are often underfunded by local governments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
To hesitate when the old man needed to relieve himself was to invite disaster.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Homan suggested ICE agents would cover entry and exit points so "that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines".
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2026
Discovery board, Paramount says it will agree to fully backstop an exchange offer that relieves WBD of its contractual bondholder obligations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
“Writing it all down relieves that burden 100%,” said Francis, whose firm has created a downloadable booklet to help the process.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 10, 2026
It might be safer to say that the rollback of fuel economy standards relieves one pressure valve on future car price increases.
From Barron's ● Dec. 4, 2025
Boggs relieves him of his weapon and goes to make a call.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
She said the couple approached the teams at Piri Piri Grill and also at Scoozi Pizza and Pasta in Ormskirk and were hugely relieved when they agreed to help out.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
“I was relieved the bear didn’t notice, otherwise we could have had a situation on our hands,” said Webb, 38.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
“I want to say how profoundly grateful and relieved that we are that our two employees were released safely,” said Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
Oropeza says she feels "a little relieved" after a session with a psychologist from Première Urgence, who advised her, among other things, to "breathe deeply, calm down, reflect, pray, cry."
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
Even though she was mad at him, Jason was relieved to see some fragments of her usual fierce self.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East isn’t just important for the supply of raw crude itself, but is also essential for relieving global refining capacity.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
For one thing, they offer some necessary conflict in a setting that’s all about relieving tension.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Authorities in California on Sunday said they discovered a crack in a damaged tank of toxic chemicals, potentially relieving pressure as the threat of an explosion has forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate.
From Barron's ● May 24, 2026
The Vatican has for months sought to mediate between Washington and Havana, with a view to relieving the island’s economic crisis and worsening humanitarian problems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
For me, relieving myself, also a monthly act, was hardly that.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
