Word
assuage
Phoneticsas·suage
US/əˈsweɪdʒ/
UK/ɐswˈeɪdʒ/
Definition
v. to make an unpleasant or painful feeling less intense. You use this when you try to calm someone's fears or satisfy their hunger.
v. to make an unpleasant feeling less intense; to satisfy an appetite or desire. Often used in formal or literary contexts to describe the mitigation of negative emotional states.
Examples
“The manager tried to assuage the customer's anger with a refund.”
“The government introduced new safety regulations to assuage public fears following the industrial accident.”
“The diplomat's carefully worded statement was designed to assuage the concerns of neighboring nations without committing his own country to a specific course of action.”
Examples
simple
“The manager tried to assuage the customer's anger with a refund.”
contextual
“The government introduced new safety regulations to assuage public fears following the industrial accident.”
complex
“The diplomat's carefully worded statement was designed to assuage the concerns of neighboring nations without committing his own country to a specific course of action.”
Usage
The verb is transitive and typically takes abstract nouns like 'guilt', 'fears', 'grief', or 'hunger' as its direct object.
Real-World Examples
“Scott tried to assuage concerns about her experience on Sunday when he was asked about Graham’s qualifications – and whether a US senator should have an understanding of national security issues.” “The split-screen developments seemed to perfectly frame the political stakes for Mr. Trump, as he races against the clock to assuage voters who increasingly blame the White House for their financial strain.” “Politicians have long struggled to assuage public concern over immigration and even with Thursday's fall, the issue is still likely to dog the Labour government.” “This email was sent in the context of advice the duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats.” Etymology
From Middle English aswagen, from Old French asuagier ("to appease, to calm"), from Vulgar Latin assuāviō ("I sweeten, I butter up, I calm"), itself from Latin ad- + suāvis ("sweet") + -iō.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/assuage