assuage

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 21, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>assuage</strong> &#149; \uh-SWAYJ\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><em>Assuage</em> is a formal word most often used when the intensity of something painful or distressing, such as guilt or fear, is being lessened, as in “efforts to assuage their concerns.” <em>Assuage</em> can also mean “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/satisfy">satisfy</a>” or “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alleviate">alleviate</a>.”</p> <p>// City officials tried to <em>assuage</em> neighbors' concerns about the new factory.</p> <p>// Just beyond one of the hike's more arduous scrambles lay a shady glen with a lively brook perfect for <em>assuaging</em> a climber's thirst.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assuage">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“One fourth of the land is being donated back to the government, part of Disney’s attempts to <em>assuage</em> environmental concerns with development of the property.” — Richard Tribou, <em>The Orlando (Florida) Sentinel</em>, 11 Sept. 2022</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>If you’ve ever wanted to learn how the, ahem, <em>assuage</em> gets made, today is your lucky day—we’ve got a sweet story to quell your hunger for word knowledge. <em>Assuage</em> comes from the Latin adjective <em>suavis</em>, meaning—you guessed it—“sweet.” (<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sweet#word-history"><em>Sweet</em></a> itself is also a distant relation.) Perhaps recalling Mary Poppins (as played by Julie Andrews in the titular film) singing to the Banks children will make the link indelible: “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” To assuage something painful or distressing, such as fear, guilt, or grief, is to lessen its intensity the way,