allay

[ uh-ley ]

/ əˈleɪ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR allay ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), al·layed, al·lay·ing.

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

to lessen or relieve; mitigate; alleviate: to allay pain.

Nearby words

Origin of allay

before 1000; Middle English aleyen, Old English ālecgan to put down, allay (ā- a-³ + lecgan to lay¹); spelling -ll- shows influence of the now obsolete allege (< Anglo-French, Old French aleg(i)er; see allege) to alleviate, allay

SYNONYMS FOR allay

1 soften, assuage.

2 lighten, mollify, temper, ease.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR allay ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR allay

1 excite.

SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR allay ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsal·lay·er, nounun·al·layed, adjective

Can be confusedallay alley alloy ally

Synonym study

1. 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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for allay

Experts [predict] that over a million people in the region need food aid to allay shortages.
Liberia’s Ebola Famine|Abby Haglage, Nina Strochlic|November 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The report calls on the Palestinians to recognize that Israeli security concerns are legitimate and to take steps to allay these.
Official Dutch Report Calls for Break with Uncritical Approach to Israel|Willem Aldershoff|June 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Friday morning, however, we got two pieces of data that should allay those concerns, at least for now.
Data Show U.S. Industry Shrugs off Sandy Effects|Daniel Gross|December 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The fact that the government employee in question is a McKinsey alumnus does not allay any of my concerns.
The Green Stimulus' Red Ink|David Frum|December 3, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Your announcement that you will be hosting Avigdor Lieberman in London does nothing to allay our concerns.
No Draft, And No Sex|Orly Halpern|May 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The sight he met there did not tend to allay his newborn interest.
Hand and Ring|Anna Katharine Green
But Can you allay a gnawing conscience, Or bind up bleeding reputation?
Pastoral Poetry and Pastoral Drama|Walter W. Greg
We ate fiddle heads, grapes and even the leaves of trees to allay the pangs of hunger.
First History of New Brunswick|Peter Fisher
He had to pretend to be drunk in order to allay the suspicions which might have been aroused by his appearance at the gate.
A Study In Scarlet|Arthur Conan Doyle
They aimed at a theocratic ministry,--to be the ambassadors of God Almighty,--to allay strife and division.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume V|John Lord

British Dictionary definitions for allay

allay

/ (əˈleɪ) /

verb

to relieve (pain, grief, etc) or be relieved

(tr) to reduce (fear, anger, etc)

Word Origin for allay

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

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

Word Origin and History for allay

allay

Old English alecgan "to put down, remit, give up," a Germanic compound (cf. Gothic uslagjan, Old High German irleccan, German erlegen), from a- "down, aside" + lecgan "to lay" (see lay).

Early Middle English pronunciations of -y- and -g- were not always distinct, and the word was confused in Middle English with various senses of Romanic-derived alloy and allege, especially the latter in an obsolete sense of "to lighten," from Latin ad- "to" + levis (see lever).

Amid the overlapping of meanings that thus arose, there was developed a perplexing network of uses of allay and allege, that belong entirely to no one of the original vbs., but combine the senses of two or more of them. [OED]

The double -l- is 17c., a mistaken Latinism. Related: Allayed; allaying.

allay

verb (used with object), al·layed, al·lay·ing.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of allay

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for allay

British Dictionary definitions for allay

allay

verb

Word Origin for allay

Word Origin and History for allay

allay