assuage

[uh-sweyj, uh-sweyzh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR assuage ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), as·suaged, as·suag·ing.

to make milder or less severe; relieve; ease; mitigate: to assuage one's grief; to assuage one's pain.

to appease; satisfy; allay; relieve: to assuage one's hunger.

to soothe, calm, or mollify: to assuage his fears; to assuage her anger.

Origin of assuage

1250–1300; Middle English aswagen < Old French asouagier < Vulgar Latin *assuāviāre, equivalent to Latin as- as- + -suāviāre, verbal derivative of Latin suāvis agreeable to the taste, pleasant (cf. suave; akin to sweet)

Related formsas·suage·ment, nounas·suag·er, nounun·as·suaged, adjectiveun·as·suag·ing, adjective

Synonyms for assuage

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR assuage ON THESAURUS.COM

1. alleviate, lessen.

Antonyms for assuage

intensify.

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

Related Words for assuage

satisfy, mitigate, placate, appease, quench, lessen, soften, sate, alleviate, pacify, mollify, allay, temper, tranquilize, fill, surfeit, palliate, conciliate, ease, moderate

Examples from the Web for assuage

Contemporary Examples of assuage

Needless to say, scheduling major events on the Jewish High Holidays does nothing to assuage those concerns.
Klutzy Conservative Jewish Outreach at the Values Voter Summit
Ben Jacobs
September 24, 2014
Paul sacrifices little with his base and can only assuage doubts among those concerned about his views on foreign policy.
Rand Paul Attempts To Woo Neocons By Cutting Aid To Palestinians
Ben Jacobs
April 28, 2014
Obama was not elected on the strength of crossover votes from Republicans seeking to assuage their guilt.
Sorry, Michele Bachmann. We Are Ready for a Female President. And It’s Partially Because of You.
Eleanor Clift
February 21, 2014
But the GOP could assuage that tension by promulgating a hard-core, Republican version of gay and straight marriage.
How Can the Republicans Take Back the Majority?
Megan McArdle
November 9, 2012
Nursing helped to assuage injuries, fatigue, crankiness, and even sickness.
The Bogus Breastfeeding Debate Over Nursing Older Kids
Diane Wiessinger
May 22, 2012

Historical Examples of assuage

To assuage remorse, she sought to give evidence as to a prevalent sympathy.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
But his well-meant attempt to assuage the stricken creature's wo was futile.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
For a long while he was preoccupied by an intense desire to assuage it.
A Spirit in Prison
Robert Hichens
Thus I assuage my conscience and justify the fun, the joy, the excitement, and the violence.
Tales of Fishes
Zane Grey
It was Roger's first experience in trying to assuage the grief of any one else.
The Forbidden Trail
Honor Willsie

British Dictionary definitions for assuage

assuage

verb (tr)

to soothe, moderate, or relieve (grief, pain, etc)

to give relief to (thirst, appetite, etc); satisfy

to pacify; calm

Derived Formsassuagement, nounassuager, nounassuasive (əˈsweɪsɪv), adjective

Word Origin for assuage

C14: from Old French assouagier, from Vulgar Latin assuāviāre (unattested) to sweeten, from Latin suāvis pleasant; see suave

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 assuage

c.1300, from Anglo-French assuager, Old French assoagier "soften, moderate, alleviate, calm, soothe, pacify," from Vulgar Latin *adsuaviare, from Latin ad- "to" (see ad-) + suavis "sweet, agreeable" (see sweet). For sound development in French, cf. deluge from Latin diluvium, abridge from abbreviare. Related: Assuaged; assuaging.