Words / C2

uh-SWAYJ/əˈsweɪdʒ/

To assuage is to make an unpleasant feeling less strong: assuage anxiety, assuage guilt. Ease is everyday; soothe is close for feelings and pain; alleviate is a close academic cousin, often of problems rather than emotions. Assuagement is rare. In speech, ease or take the edge off is enough. You assuage a feeling or hunger, not a broken machine. Formal, slightly literary.

Meaning

To make an unpleasant feeling less strong (formal).

Examples

• “A kind word assuaged her anxiety.”
• “A precise timetable assuaged her panic more than reassurance did.”
• “Nothing in the letter assuaged the sense that the decision was already made.”

Good to know

Ease a feeling (formal/literary). Everyday: ease / soothe. Close: alleviate (often problems). Not a synonym for repair.

Near in meaning

ease

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