allay

verb

al·​lay a-ˈlā 

ə-

allayed; allaying; allays

transitive verb

1

: to subdue or reduce in intensity or severity : alleviate

expect a breeze to allay the heat

2

: to make quiet : calm

trying to allay their fears

intransitive verb

obsolete : to diminish in strength : subside

Synonyms

• alleviate
• relieve
• help
• soothe
• mitigate
• ease

Choose the Right Synonym for allay

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 allay in a Sentence

The new advertising campaign is an attempt to allay the public's concerns about the safety of the company's products.

a gentle breeze would allay the heat

Recent Examples on the Web

The tour is Mamdani’s attempt to allay fears about the unabashedly left-wing candidate. —Mark Chiusano, Time, 14 Aug. 2025

Ben Easley, a spokesman with Citizens, allayed any concerns over the discharge by identifying it in an email to IndyStar. —Karl Schneider, IndyStar, 4 Aug. 2025

Google’s parent company said its search and cloud computing arms drove 14% revenue growth in Q2 this year, allaying fears that its AI Overview summaries in search results would reduce the value of ads. —Ben Smith, semafor.com, 25 July 2025

Companies will need to allay security concerns with the proper architecture and security tools. —R. Scott Raynovich, Forbes.com, 24 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English alayen, from Old English ālecgan, from ā- (perfective prefix) + lecgan to lay — more at abide, lay

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2

Rhymes for allay

• airway
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway
• beret
• betray

Kids Definition

allay

verb

al·​lay a-ˈlā 

ə-

allayed; allaying

1

: to make less severe : relieve

allay pain

2

: to make quiet : calm

allay fears