assuage

[uh-sweyj, uh-sweyzh]

verb (used with object)

assuaged, assuaging 

1. to make milder or less severe; alleviate; ease; mitigate.

   to assuage one's grief;

   to assuage one's pain.

   Synonyms: relieve, lessen, diminish, allay

2. to appease; satisfy; sate.

   to assuage one's hunger.

3. to soothe, calm, or mollify.

   to assuage his fears;

   to assuage her anger.

assuage

/ əˈsweɪdʒ, əˈsweɪsɪv /

verb

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

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

3. to pacify; calm

Other Word Forms

• assuagement noun
• assuager noun
• unassuaging adjective
• assuasive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of assuage¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English aswagen, from Old French asouagier, from unrecorded Vulgar Latin assuāviāre, equivalent to Latin as- as- + -suāviāre, verbal derivative of Latin suāvis “agreeable to the taste, pleasant” ( suave; akin to sweet )

Word History and Origins

Origin of assuage¹

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

Example Sentences

What he later discovered through the Chinese court cases, he says, is that Qian had paid off those senior managers to assuage investors' concerns - while she fled to the UK with the money.

Read more on BBC

That gives her influence over whom Mamdani picks at City Hall to carry out his affordability agenda and is unlikely to assuage concerns that his administration will carry out an agenda unfriendly to business.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Though crucial economic data releases—like the October jobs report—have been delayed due to the government shutdown, better-than-expected profits at major companies have assuaged concerns about the health of the U.S. economy.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Investors have a chance to put those concerns, which were assuaged in part by solid earnings reports and credit market commentary from a host of regional lenders on Friday, firmly behind them this week.

Read more on Barron's

The presence of the Ivorian army in the remote and long-neglected northeast, hundreds of kilometres from the economic capital Abidjan, has succeeded in assuaging locals' concerns -- to an extent.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• allay 
• alleviate 
• appease 
• lessen 
• mitigate 
• mollify 
• pacify 
• placate 
• quench 
• sate 
• satisfy 
• soften 
• temper