Soothe
[suːð] or [sʊð]
Definition
(verb.) cause to feel better; 'the medicine soothes the pain of the inflammation'.
Editor: Murdoch--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) To assent to as true.
(a.) To assent to; to comply with; to gratify; to humor by compliance; to please with blandishments or soft words; to flatter.
(a.) To assuage; to mollify; to calm; to comfort; as, to soothe a crying child; to soothe one's sorrows.
Inputed by Betty
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Assuage, calm, quiet, appease, tranquillize, compose, pacify, sober, still, lull.[2]. Moderate, alleviate, palliate, lessen, allay, mollify, repress, check, temper, soften, attemper, deaden, qualify, relieve, ease, dull, blunt.
Checked by Herman
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Soften, assuage, allay, compose, mollify, tranquillize, pacify, lull, mitigate,flatter, appease, relieve
ANT:Rouse, excite, irritate, ruffle, exasperate, exacerbate, agitate, infuriate,aggravate, annoy, dissatisfy
Checker: Lorrie
Definition
v.t. to please with soft words: to flatter: to soften allay.—ns. Sooth′er one who or that which soothes: (Shak.) one who gains by blandishments a flatterer; Sooth′ing (Shak.) flattery (also adj.).—adv. Sooth′ingly.
Checked by Calvin
Examples
- I saw Steerforth soothe and please you by his praise of her! Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- I, at least, was taken up with endeavouring to soothe Fifine; whose cries (for she had good lungs) were appalling to hear. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Was it right, even to soothe his grief--would it be possible, even if she promised--to work as in a treadmill fruitlessly? George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I was not fond of pampering that susceptible vanity of his; but for once, and from motives of expediency, I would e'en soothe and stimulate it. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- I wish to soothe him; yet can I counsel one so infinitely miserable, so destitute of every hope of consolation, to live? Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- As for the main subject of the letter, there was nothing in that to soothe irritation. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- To be so caught did not contribute to soothe him. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It was under his hand, and I soothed him to let me move his hand away. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- Bessy shut her eyes, and allowed herself to be soothed. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- The quiet in the house, and the low murmuring hum of summer insects outside the open window, soothed me. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- As I watched her face and soothed her to go on, I saw that Mr. Bucket received this with a look which I could not separate from one of alarm. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- She was soothed without knowing how or why. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- Once my fancy was soothed with dreams of virtue, of fame, and of enjoyment. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- With that she soothed herself and amused her friend. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- The same energy turns the electric fan, and with kindly service soothes the weary sufferer, and at another place remorselessly takes the life of the condemned criminal. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- I always like that to be done; it soothes one's mind to see the place in order. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It soothes them. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Imagination,' said the gentleman, soothing her. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Some times, when her uncle's easy way of taking things did not happen to be exasperating, it was rather soothing. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- You make one bite your head off, when one wants to be soothing beyond everything. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Its grandeur-- its treasure of paintings, its magnificent halls were objects soothing and even exhilarating. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- My brother was one of the founders, and I have myself found it a very soothing atmosphere. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- To Archer's strained nerves the vision was as soothing as the sight of the blue sky and the lazy river. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- The British Ministry of Reconstruction and its foreign equivalents were exposed as a soothing sham. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Checker: Shelia