assuage

[ uh-sweyj, uh-sweyzh ]

/ əˈsweɪdʒ, əˈsweɪʒ /

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.

Nearby words

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)

SYNONYMS FOR assuage

1 alleviate, lessen.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR assuage ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR assuage

intensify.

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

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
Nursing helped to assuage injuries, fatigue, crankiness, and even sickness.
The Bogus Breastfeeding Debate Over Nursing Older Kids|Diane Wiessinger|May 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST

There is also the related question of how far he might go to assuage them.
Romney and the Right-Wing Shakedown|Michael Tomasky|March 20, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Then the bitterness of death is past; God have mercy on them, and assuage their anguish; they want His help more than I do.
Jacob Faithful|Captain Frederick Marryat
It cannot be gainsaid, it cannot be altered, time itself cannot assuage its rigors.
The Terms of Surrender|Louis Tracy
The last week in September, the plague being come to its crisis, its fury began to assuage.
A Journal of the Plague Year|Daniel Defoe
In fine, the drinks will have contributed to assuage the violence of the fever.
On the cattle plague: or, Contagious typhus in horned cattle. Its history, origin, description, and treatment|Honor Bourguignon
To assuage the grief of the sorrowing mother Hades agreed to give her back to Earth for half the year.
The Christ|John Eleazer Remsburg

British Dictionary definitions for assuage

assuage

/ (əˈsweɪdʒ) /

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

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.