assuage

UK: /əˈsweɪdʒ/ US: (ə swāj′, ə swāzh′)

Inflections of 'assuage' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

assuages

v 3rd person singular

assuaging

v pres p

assuaged

v past

assuaged

v past p

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

as•suage  (ə swāj′, ə swāzh′), v.t., -suaged, -suag•ing. 

1. to make milder or less severe;
   relieve;
   ease;
   mitigate:
   to assuage one's grief; to assuage one's pain.
2. to appease;
   satisfy;
   allay;
   relieve:
   to assuage one's hunger.
3. to soothe, calm, or mollify:
   to assuage his fears; to assuage her anger.

• Vulgar Latin *assuāviāre, equivalent. to Latin as- as- + -suāviāre, verb, verbal derivative of Latin suāvis agreeable to the taste, pleasant (compare suave; akin to sweet)
• Old French asouagier
• Middle English aswagen 1250–1300

as•suage′ment, n. 
as•suag′er, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. alleviate, lessen.

Antonyms

intensify.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

assuage / əˈsweɪdʒ/ verb (transitive)

1. to soothe, moderate, or relieve (grief, pain, etc)
2. to give relief to (thirst, appetite, etc); satisfy
3. to pacify; calm

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French assouagier, from Vulgar Latin assuāviāre (unattested) to sweeten, from Latin suāvis pleasant; see suave

asˈsuagement noun

asˈsuager noun