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

They reached out to key players in the entertainment industry — including Walt Disney Co. — about potential areas for collaboration and trying to assuage concerns about its technology.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

When it was reintroduced this year, the Democrats assuaged unions by making phonics voluntary.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“Recipes From the American South” presents food that has not been modified to assuage present-day dietetic anxieties.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Universities, far from assuaging that constant fear, should fight to make it a reality.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

To assuage their fears, legislators added an amendment allowing cities to exempt those areas in the state’s very high fire hazard severity zones until about 2030.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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