assuage

[ uh-sweyj, uh-sweyzh ]

/ əˈsweɪdʒ, əˈsweɪʒ /

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

assorted, assortment, assr, asst, asst., assuage, assuan, assuasive, assuerus, assumable, assume

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.

ANTONYMS FOR assuage

intensify.

Related forms

as·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 assuaged

At least with a physical or mental ailment some guilt can be assuaged.
Why I Choose to Be Child-Free: Readers Share Their Stories|Harry Siegel|February 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Will the twenty percenters be assuaged if Hillary accepts the job of Secretary of State?
Will Secretary of State Be Enough for Hillary’s Army?|Tina Brown|November 18, 2008|DAILY BEAST
And the more strident notes of D'Annunzio's patriotism are also assuaged by the tenderness and depth of his home feeling.
Recent Developments in European Thought|Various
Can the sorrow of those, whose souls have been so close to the great soul of the dead, ever be assuaged?
Reminiscences of Anton Chekhov|Maxim Gorky

Time has assuaged their grief, but Constance never thinks of the ill-fated lovers without a sigh.
The Manchester Rebels of the Fatal '45|William Harrison Ainsworth
It must remain poised on wing till the floods have assuaged and the foundations of things have been discovered.
A Gamble with Life|Silas K. Hocking
His restlessness increased, as his feelings were no longer nourished and assuaged by the melody.
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and Travels, Vol. I (of 2)|Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

British Dictionary definitions for assuaged

assuage

/ (əˈsweɪdʒ) /

verb (tr)

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

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

to pacify; calm

Derived Forms

assuagement, 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