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

---

asseverate British  

/ əˈsɛvəˌreɪt /

verb

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

---

Other Word Forms

• asseveration
  noun

---

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

---

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

When we will prove nothing by deeds, then we make speeches, and when we are disobedient in act, then we asseverate with words of love and reverence.

From The Youth of the Great Elector by L. (Luise) Mühlbach

It has more solemnity than declare, and more composure and dignity than asseverate, which is to assert excitedly.

From English Synonyms and Antonyms With Notes on the Correct Use of Prepositions by James Champlin Fernald

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

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

He asseverated that he would not jeopardize the interests of French citizens for the sake of winning advantages which some firms might derive from trading with Russia.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From Time Magazine Archive

"I believe the story just as the accused told it," asseverated his highness.

From Told by the Death's Head A Romantic Tale by M?r J?kai

Could we see as cogent a motive for asseverating his guilt as we find for his insisting upon his innocence, we should lend as much credence to the one as to the other.

From The Darrow Enigma by Melvin Linwood Severy

Into every room they looked, the old woman asseverating denials that it was of no use, they might see for themselves, that no one had been there for years past.

From Love and Life An Old Story in Eighteenth Century Costume by Charlotte Mary Yonge

"Yes, you did," cry I, passionately, asseverating what I have so lately and passionately denied.

From Nancy by Rhoda Broughton

I had only wasted time in asseverating that barren reefs are twice as plentiful as half-tucker reefs; ten times as plentiful as wages reefs; and a hundred times as plentiful as pile reefs.

From Such Is Life by Joseph Furphy

Now they have uprisen, and, asseverating that classical education is a pricked bubble, ask boldly for expensive apparatus and a larger tract of space in the time-table.

From The Lighter Side of School Life by Ian Hay

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

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

---