Synonyms

relieve

American

[ri-leev] / rɪˈliv /

verb (used with object)

to ease or alleviate (pain, distress, anxiety, need, etc.).

Synonyms:

diminish, abate, lessen, lighten, allay, assuage, mitigate

Antonyms:

intensify
to free from anxiety, fear, pain, etc.
to free from need, poverty, etc.

Synonyms:

sustain, support
to bring effective aid to (a besieged town, military position, etc.).

Synonyms:

succor, assist, help, aid
to ease (a person) of any burden, wrong, or oppression, as by legal means.
to reduce (a pressure, load, weight, etc., on a device or object under stress).

to relieve the steam pressure; to relieve the stress on the supporting walls.
to make less tedious, unpleasant, or monotonous; break or vary the sameness of.

curtains to relieve the drabness of the room.
to bring into relief or prominence; heighten the effect of.
to release (one on duty) by coming as or providing a substitute or replacement.
Machinery.
1. to free (a closed space, as a tank, boiler, etc.) of more than a desirable pressure or vacuum.
2. to reduce (the pressure or vacuum in such a space) to a desirable level.
Baseball. to replace (a pitcher).

verb (used without object)

Baseball. to act as a relief pitcher.

He relieved in 52 games for the Pirates last season.

idioms

to relieve oneself, to urinate or defecate.

relieve British

/ rɪˈliːv /

verb

to bring alleviation of (pain, distress, etc) to (someone)
to bring aid or assistance to (someone in need, a disaster area, etc)
to take over the duties or watch of (someone)
to bring aid or a relieving force to (a besieged town, city, etc)
to free (someone) from an obligation
to make (something) less unpleasant, arduous, or monotonous
to bring into relief or prominence, as by contrast
informal (foll by of) to take from

the thief relieved him of his watch
to urinate or defecate

"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

Synonym Usage

See comfort.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of relieve

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English releven from Middle French relever “to raise,” from Latin relevāre “to reduce the load of, lighten,” equivalent to re- “again, again and again”+ levāre “to raise,” derivative of levis “light in weight”; see re-

Explanation

To relieve is to ease a burden or take over for someone. An aspirin can relieve a headache, and a substitute can relieve the teacher who fell asleep on her desk after lunch. Relieve comes from the Latin word relevare meaning "to help" or "make light again." An ice pack might relieve a pain in your elbow, but you can also be relieved of your duties if you get fired (or taken out to lunch). A thief might even relieve you of your wallet. Like thief, relieve is the rare word that actually follows the "i" before "e" rule ("i" before "e" except after "c" or when sounded as "a" as in "neighbor" and "weigh"). Aren't you relieved?

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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:

relieve relieves relieved relieving

By paying close attention to the documents you sign while onboarding, you can relieve yourself of one hurdle during the job hunting process.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

And also Katie Dippold spoke to this, the creator and writer, where she said she kind of thought one can almost relieve the other.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

The US has deployed another battleship to relieve the Lincoln, which should arrive in the Middle East in another week.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Some tricks to relieve stress: From the archives, yoga teacher Sara Pam Neufeld shares a workout that takes seconds—and could actually improve your quality of life.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

I felt determined to help her somehow, to relieve her anguish and to show her she could rely on me; but, as her youngest child, I doubt my reassurances gave her much confidence.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson

Every $10 donated to Undue Medical Debt relieves an average of $1,000 in medical debt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026

"Looking back and revisiting something that we already know about kind of relieves that anxiety, or it kind of just distracts us from all of the current changes that are happening."

From Barron's ● Apr. 8, 2026

Homan suggested ICE agents would cover entry and exit points so "that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines".

From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2026

“Writing it all down relieves that burden 100%,” said Francis, whose firm has created a downloadable booklet to help the process.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 10, 2026

If some other drug relieves the symptoms of schizophrenia, then an excess of it must cause schizophrenia.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

He's relieved but has also lost thousands of pounds of potential sales.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

After years of no progress and no communication, Crenshaw locals are relieved that the city is paying attention.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

During the in-person meeting at the Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, Navy leaders were unable to tell families when their loves ones would be relieved from duty.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

While some lament the decline of suits and ties, others are relieved to ditch the starchy collars and pantyhose.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

I’m relieved when everyone turns back to what they were doing.

From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell

Signs of de-escalation with Iran have also helped extend the rally in recent sessions, with retreating oil prices relieving inflationary pressures and sparking gains in energy-hungry industrial shares.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East isn’t just important for the supply of raw crude itself, but is also essential for relieving global refining capacity.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

He joked about the traffic — relieving everyone’s driving and parking stress.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026

"It's relieving to talk about something where you're a winner."

From BBC ● May 26, 2026

Everybody’s been so kind about relieving me because of the way my stomach’s been.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023