asseverate

American  

[uh-sev-uh-rayt] / əˈsɛv əˌreɪt /

verb (used with object)

asseverated, asseverating

1. to declare earnestly or solemnly; affirm positively; aver.

   Synonyms:

   maintain, state, assert

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asseverate British  

/ əˈsɛvəˌreɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to assert or declare emphatically or solemnly

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Other Word Forms

• asseveration
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of asseverate

First recorded in 1785–95; < Latin assevērātus “spoken in earnest” (past participle of assevērāre ), equivalent to as- as- + sevēr- ( see severe) + -ātus -ate ¹

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Explanation

To asseverate is to declare or affirm something with confidence and seriousness. When you asseverate, you're not just making a statement; you're saying it with such certainty that there's no room for confusion or doubt. The word comes from the Latin root that means "to affirm or maintain." When you asseverate, you speak with conviction. It's like planting your feet and saying, "This is how it is — no doubt about it!" A witness who gives their testimony in the courtroom may asseverate in order to let everyone know that they are telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

asseverate asseverated asseverating

—At this, the Boy suffered some Confusion, then to asseverate, My Tutor is deceased, Sir.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Why merely say something, when they can declare, assert, expostulate, announce, or asseverate it?

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

I ain't afeard av the ball," he hastened to asseverate; "it's the kick av it that murthers me.

From Overland by J. W. (John William) De Forest

The phrase "to bear in hand" for "to asseverate," was still frequently used in the reign of Charles II.

From The Works of Alexander Pope, Volume 1 New Edition by Alexander Pope

If the Cardinal argued the case, the Prince would asseverate, after his manner, and some sort of result was sure to follow.

From Saracinesca by F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford

In the Daily Mail in 2007, Humphrys asseverated that “vandals” who use “grotesque abbreviations” in their text messages are “pillaging our punctuation; savaging our sentences; raping our vocabulary”.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 25, 2016

Sometimes, Ms. Silveri asseverated, “ ‘she said’ is just the very best way to say that.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 29, 2015

Once again," he asseverated, "the Supreme Court has survived a real crisis in its existence.

From Time Magazine Archive

Nothing like her had been heard, the audience individually and as a body asseverated, in the six years in which Chicago has had an opera company named for it.

From Time Magazine Archive

Thus the Doctor, though admitting that he had produced the diphtheria, persistently asseverated that Mabel had not succumbed to its influence.

From A Modern Wizard by Rodrigues Ottolengui

Georgie cried day and night, merely asseverating that she hated Joe, and loved Ma, and she wished people would let her alone.

From Saturday's Child by Kathleen Thompson Norris

Are they to be summarily disposed of as resting upon some tacit assumption of that old-grannyism which delights in asseverating that times are not what they used to be?

From The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske

Note how your captains of industry are asseverating that factories in the North must cut wages in order to compete with those that have gone South.

From The Hindered Hand or, The Reign of the Repressionist by Robert E. Bell

It was only by addressing his reason in repeated arguments, and by solemnly asseverating my entire fidelity, that I induced him to yield.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 71, September, 1863 by Various

She would lie there, gazing at me, with a dumb fear in her eyes—and I would go on asseverating blindly, like an unsuccessful actor before a jeering audience.

From Sylvia's Marriage by Upton Sinclair

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Related Words

• allege
• attest
• aver
• avow
• declare
• promise

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