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:
The rest of us will view these claims as another set of lies—but we will also take some comfort that at least the war is over.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026
"Quite often I just touch their names when I'm there. It gives me comfort," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
A bigger source of comfort has been a building trust on Wall Street that Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh will act as a steady hand for markets since his Jackson Hole speech.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
“When somebody takes different choices than we take in terms of weight and comfort, we get to learn from that and see how people respond to it,” Bosworth said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
There is a certain comfort to giving in.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
With higher ticket prices and more competition — not only with other touring bands but with the allures of home comforts — audiences need a bigger draw.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
Critics have argued that this growing array of services contributes to rising college costs and an emphasis on comforts and conveniences rather than educational value.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 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
Former Arsenal midfielder and Wales captain Aaron Ramsey applies a tourniquet, while ex-Chelsea and Argentina goalkeeper Willy Caballero comforts the casualty.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Suddenly she wished that she could leave this place, despite its comforts, and return to the life she had known.
From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry
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
Kirby said she was comforted by the actions the city's health department was taking in terms of testing.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
I learned to regulate difficult emotions—sadness, anger, fear—much as I had comforted the wounded child alive within me.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
He comforted terrified survivors and filled critical information voids by sending continual updates to friends and neighbors as firefighters fought the blaze.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026
But none of us were comforted that easily, although by now we had learned not to make a fuss.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
It is hard to tell someone who missed a bull market anything comforting, but historically some bull markets have run much longer and kept delivering big gains.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
There was a comforting nostalgia in watching her surrounded by tchotchkes, radiating the loose, warm confidence that made “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” such a phenomenon in the 1990s.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
Chris adds: "Knowing that a person did this, as opposed to it being a natural thing that happened, it just does feel a little bit comforting for some reason."
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
At a time when market leaders are all about the promise of future AI riches, it’s comforting to own shares in an old-school company that can afford to reward shareholders generously today.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
And I can’t explain why, but after all the weirdness today, seeing all this normal, boring stuff was sort of comforting.
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
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.
