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soothe

verb

Simple meaning

To calm someone or ease pain.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

sooth
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈsuð

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh.

  2. transitive

    To ease or relieve pain or suffering.

  3. transitive

    To calm or placate someone or some situation.

  4. intransitive

    To bring comfort or relief.

  5. transitive

    To keep in good humour; wheedle; cajole; flatter.

  6. intransitive

    To temporise by assent, concession, flattery, or cajolery.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh.

Used this way, soothe is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It keeps things gentle rather than emphatic.

Emotional tone
Positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Mild
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Calm and reassuring
Usage feel
Understated and gentle

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use soothe

  • “The medicine soothes the pain of the inflammation.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

soothe awayhelped soothe

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • soothing syrupnounCompound term

    Medicine in the form of a syrup that has a calming effect.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to restore to ease or comfort or or tranquility

comfort

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.