assuage

[uh-sweyj, uh-sweyzh]

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.

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)

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

Synonyms for assuage

1. alleviate, lessen.

Antonyms for assuage

intensify.

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

Related Words for assuaged

satisfy, mitigate, placate, appease, quench, lessen, soften, sate, alleviate, pacify, mollify, allay, temper, tranquilize, fill, surfeit, palliate, conciliate, ease, moderate

Examples from the Web for assuaged

Contemporary Examples of 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
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

Historical Examples of assuaged

Her feelings might have been assuaged by a clean hearth and some acquiescence in her own mood.
Tiverton Tales
Alice Brown
So Mr. Croy showed he could qualify the humble hand that assuaged him.
The Wings of the Dove, Volume 1 of 2
Henry James
Next morning, however, this fever of fraternal suspense was assuaged.
The Doctor's Family
Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant
She knew how easily his temper was assuaged, she knew the very words.
In a Little Town
Rupert Hughes
The grief of Antonina could only be assuaged by the sufferings of her son.
The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Edward Gibbon

British Dictionary definitions for assuaged

assuage

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 assuaged

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.