asseverate

American  

[uh-sev-uh-reyt] / 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

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

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

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

The second wait for Jennie seemed longer than the first, and Daniel not only grew restive in the booth, but began again to asseverate that Jennie had not behaved quite properly by him.

From The Mermaid of Druid Lake and Other Stories by Bump, Charles Weathers

They lacked a definite opinion to entertain and a cry to asseverate.

From In the Name of the Bodleian and Other Essays by Birrell, Augustine

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

"There still is in this country," he asseverated, "too great grief, too many mourners, too many wounded men for us to tolerate that."

From Time Magazine Archive

Premier Herriot asseverated that there was no pact which in any way invalidated any provision of the Treaty of Versailles.

From Time Magazine Archive

Who—ever told you that," she asseverated in slow syllables, "was a liar.

From The Tempering by Buck, Charles Neville

Claiming culture, it is the crudest; asseverating its pre-eminence, it is the basest; denying all outside values and virtue, it is the narrowest.

From Strictly business: more stories of the four million by Henry, O.

The Governor broke off, annoyed to find himself asseverating for the second time so obvious a fact.

From The Hermit and the Wild Woman by Wharton, Edith

The speaker was a countryman, who appeared to have been asseverating something regarded by the rest of the company as greatly in need of confirmation.

From The Twilight of the Gods, and Other Tales by Garnett, Richard

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 Norris, Kathleen Thompson

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 Hay, Ian

Related Words

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