assuage

verb

as·​suage ə-ˈswāj How to pronounce assuage (audio)
 also  -ˈswāzh,
 or  -ˈswäzh
assuaged; assuaging

transitive verb

1
: to lessen the intensity of (something that pains or distresses) : ease
unable to assuage their grief
2
: pacify, quiet
… vainly strove … to assuage an implacable foe …Edward Gibbon
3
: to put an end to by satisfying : appease, quench
assuaging his thirst
assuagement
ə-ˈswāj-mənt How to pronounce assuage (audio)
 also  -ˈswāzh-
 or  -ˈswäzh-
noun

Did you know?

Assuage Stays Sweet Over Time

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how the, ahem, assuage gets made, today is your lucky day—we’ve got a sweet story to quell your hunger for word knowledge. Assuage comes from the Latin adjective suavis, meaning—you guessed it—“sweet.” (Sweet itself is also a distant relation.) Perhaps recalling Mary Poppins (as played by Julie Andrews in the titular film) singing to the Banks children will make the link indelible: “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” To assuage something painful or distressing, such as fear, guilt, or grief, is to lessen its intensity the way, say, saccharine grape flavoring helps mask some of the bitterness of cough syrup. Similarly, to assuage hunger or thirst—as for lexicographical trivia, perhaps—is to end it by satisfying it fully. We hope you’re satisfied!

Choose the Right Synonym for assuage

relieve, alleviate, lighten, assuage, mitigate, allay mean to make something less grievous.

relieve implies a lifting of enough of a burden to make it tolerable.

took an aspirin to relieve the pain

alleviate implies temporary or partial lessening of pain or distress.

the lotion alleviated the itching

lighten implies reducing a burdensome or depressing weight.

good news would lighten our worries

assuage implies softening or sweetening what is harsh or disagreeable.

ocean breezes assuaged the intense heat

mitigate suggests a moderating or countering of the effect of something violent or painful.

the need to mitigate barbaric laws

allay implies an effective calming or soothing of fears or alarms.

allayed their fears

Examples of assuage in a Sentence

Life contains sorrows that cannot be assuaged, and it is important to be honest in acknowledging this. Jo McGowan, Commonweal, 5 May 2006
But for the second exam, my pretest diet included yogurt and ice cream (without pieces), which assuaged my hunger, and the cleansing was stimulated by a glass of salty liquid midafternoon. Jane E. Brody, New York Times, 12 July 2005
Whatever arrangements such mothers willingly make for their children, whatever strategies they employ to relieve their guilt, whatever books they read to assuage their anxiety—all of that is their business, not mine. Caitlin Flanagan, Atlantic, March 2004
As I've told Jody on numerous occasions, the best way for her to assuage my guilt is to hit it big in the Internet gold rush and then retire … Matthew Miller, New Republic, 17 Jan. 2000
He couldn't assuage his guilt over the divorce. a mother cooing to her toddler and assuaging his fear of the dark
Recent Examples on the Web That did not assuage the staffers at the Daily resisting the story. David Folkenflik, NPR, 6 Mar. 2024 The handful of new lodging options within the district should assuage that concern. Shawn Raymundo, The Arizona Republic, 29 Feb. 2024 Ma also blames the dissatisfaction on executives wanting to use remote work as a scapegoat to assuage displeased investors about middling performance. Paolo Confino, Fortune, 26 Jan. 2024 The merger agreement rightly includes plans to divest five product lines and sell 413 stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers to assuage such concerns. Ryan Nabil, National Review, 24 Jan. 2024 The visit comes days after senators and House lawmakers from both parties traveled to the Munich Security Conference to try to assuage European leaders, including Zelenskyy, who are closely watching the U.S. developments. Mary Clare Jalonick The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 24 Feb. 2024 Those concerns are unlikely to be assuaged by the special counsel report released Thursday, which cleared Biden of criminal wrongdoing after the discovery of classified materials at his home and personal office. Justin Sink, Fortune, 9 Feb. 2024 The corporations provide for their vassals, giving them material comforts and entertainment, which work to assuage resentments fueled by rigid social inequality. Matthew Jordan, The Conversation, 1 Feb. 2024 One of her student characters, Kennedy, learns from her mother to assuage her fears by filling her dorm room with useless goods. Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'assuage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English aswagen, from Anglo-French asuager, from Vulgar Latin *assuaviare, from Latin ad- + suavis sweet — more at sweet

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of assuage was in the 14th century

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Dictionary Entries Near assuage

Cite this Entry

“Assuage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assuage. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

assuage

verb
as·​suage ə-ˈswāj How to pronounce assuage (audio)
assuaged; assuaging
1
: to lessen or make easier to bear : soothe, ease
2
assuagement noun

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