assuage

American  

[uh-sweyj, uh-sweyzh] / əˈsweɪdʒ, əˈsweɪʒ /

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.

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assuage British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of assuage

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” ( cf. suave; akin to sweet )

Explanation

If you assuage an unpleasant feeling, you make it go away. Assuaging your hunger by eating a bag of marshmallows may cause you other unpleasant feelings. The most common things that we assuage are fears, concerns, guilt, grief, anxiety, and anger. That makes a lot of sense — these are all things we seek relief from. The word comes from Old French assouagier, from the Latin root suavis, "sweet" — think of adding a bit of honey to something unpleasant. A word with a similar meaning is mollify.

Example Sentences

There is still stigma and misunderstanding around his illness, which he is keen to assuage.

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

With OpenAI committing to spending $600 billion on compute by 2030, the company needs to demonstrate clear growth momentum to assuage concerns that it’s overspending on AI.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026

The meeting didn’t appear to assuage those concerns.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

The Fed did little to assuage those fears Wednesday, keeping interest rates on hold and failing to signal the cuts that could give markets some hope amid a conflict with no end in sight.

From Barron's • Mar. 19, 2026

It was not enough to assuage the pain that Jonas was beginning, now, to know.

From "The Giver" by Lois Lowry

Related Words

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