comfort
Americanverb (used with object)
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comforts,
present (3rd person singular)
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comforted,
past participle, past
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comforting
present participle
noun
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comforts
plural
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relief in affliction; consolation; solace.
Her presence was a comfort to him.
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a feeling of relief or consolation.
Her forgiveness afforded him great comfort.
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a person or thing that gives consolation.
She was a great comfort to him.
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a cause or matter of relief or satisfaction.
The patient's recovery was a comfort to the doctor.
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a state of ease and satisfaction of bodily wants, with freedom from pain and anxiety.
He is a man who enjoys his comfort.
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something that promotes such a state.
His wealth allows him to enjoy a high degree of comfort.
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Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. a comforter or quilt.
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Obsolete. strengthening aid; assistance.
noun
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a state of ease or well-being
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relief from affliction, grief, etc
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a person, thing, or event that brings solace or ease
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obsolete support
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(usually plural) something that affords physical ease and relaxation
verb
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to ease the pain of; soothe; cheer
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to bring physical ease to
Synonym Usage
Comfort, console, relieve, soothe imply assuaging sorrow, worry, discomfort, or pain. To comfort is to lessen the sadness or sorrow of someone and to strengthen by inspiring with hope and restoring a cheerful outlook: to comfort a despairing person. Console, a more formal word, means to make grief or distress seem lighter, by means of kindness and thoughtful attentions: to console a bereaved parent. Relieve means to lighten, lessen, or remove pain, trouble, discomfort, or hardship: to relieve a needy person. Soothe means to pacify or calm: to soothe a child. See ease.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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comfortlessnessnoun
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comfortingadjective
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comfortlessadjective
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uncomfortedadjective
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comfortinglyadverb
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comfortlesslyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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comfortsimple
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comfortssimple
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have comfortedperfect
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has comfortedperfect
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am comfortingprogressive
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are comfortingprogressive
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is comfortingprogressive
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have been comfortingperfect progressive
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has been comfortingperfect progressive
Past
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comfortedsimple
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had comfortedperfect
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was comfortingprogressive
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were comfortingprogressive
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had been comfortingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of comfort
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English verb comfortien, from Anglo-French, Old French conforter, from Late Latin confortāre “to strengthen,” equivalent to con- con- ( def. ) + -fortāre, verb suffix formed from Latin fortis “strong”; noun derived from the verb
Explanation
To comfort someone is to give solace or to soothe. You might comfort your brother when his favorite team gets knocked out of the playoffs. The verb comfort comes from the Latin word comfortare, which means “strengthen greatly.” To give comfort is to shore up the mood or physical state of someone else. It might take a long time to comfort your mother after her cat disappears. As a noun, comfort is anything that provides satisfaction or a relaxed and easy feeling. You might think that the comfort of your new shoes cannot be surpassed.
Vocabulary lists containing comfort
Stay Strong: Forc and Fort
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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com-, con-
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But he also came out of his comfort zone very early.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
The technology emerged from research focused on making military uniforms more resistant to mosquito bites and improving comfort for soldiers wearing body armor.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
But if you’re worried about AI’s risk to humanity—or, conversely, wish people had more faith in the benefits of AI—you won’t find comfort in marketing that treats food like an alien concept.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
What signs of mutual interest or comfort should someone realistically look for before taking that step?
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
The captain growled at the boys and cuffed their heads, while Madame Babushkinov tried to comfort her daughter with promises of new dresses and plots of revenge against her brothers.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
The comforts of a resort leave Mr. Young feeling guilty on “Fontainebleau,” a guitar-laden track named for the Miami Beach hotel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
In return, he’d get comforts for his death row cell, including a television, as well as $33,000 to pay off a restitution order and purchase headstones for his parents’ graves, The Times reported.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Real surprises are rarer in the land of Too Much TV, although we shouldn’t knock reliable comforts.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
There’s a trade-off: We experience a little emotional discomfort by being constantly surveilled, but we are rewarded with the more physical comforts of safety and efficiency.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026
‘Here you find us sitting on a field of victory, amid the plunder of armies, and you wonder how we came by a few well-earned comforts!’
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
Eventually, she’s comforted by her unwavering support of Keeley, who is just the right mix of adorable, attractive and ambitious, and the fact that at least she’s not an anti-feminist like her mother.
From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2026
In scenes very similar to the incident against RB Leipzig on Saturday, the 23-year-old was comforted by team-mates including England captain Harry Kane.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Meanwhile, at a sports hall in Las Rozas de Madrid just outside the capital, the displaced sprawled on camp beds, held their heads in their hands and comforted pets as they awaited news.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
“To have gay couples come up crying, saying thank you is incredible and it’s what you do it for. The best feeling in the world is to know that we’ve comforted someone.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
He felt strangely comforted by this thought because he realized that what he wanted most of all, with her, was time.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
But its good witchery also contextualizes the quest for sanity in mad times like ours with comforting observations about occultism’s role during eras of social upheaval.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
I’ve found it comforting to prepare the simple recipe to a complex piece of music.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
The more I thought about it, the more I realized there was something comforting about my conversation with Randy.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
These are followed by a series of clips where Trump is seen picking up the cap of a US marine, saluting at a repatriation ceremony and comforting the families of fallen soldiers.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
But Janet didn’t find these truths convincing, much less comforting.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
