SOOTHE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does soothe mean? 

• SOOTHE (verb)
  The verb SOOTHE has 2 senses:

1. give moral or emotional strength to

2. cause to feel better

  Familiarity information: SOOTHE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOOTHE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they soothe    ... he / she / it soothes   
Past simple: soothed   
Past participle: soothed   
-ing form: soothing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give moral or emotional strength to

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

comfort; console; solace; soothe

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "soothe"):

calm; calm down; lull; quiet; quieten; still; tranquilize; tranquillise; tranquillize (make calm or still)

allay; ease; relieve; still (lessen the intensity of or calm)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The good news will soothe her
The performance is likely to soothe Sue

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to feel better

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

the medicine soothes the pain of the inflammation

Hypernyms (to "soothe" is one way to...):

alleviate; assuage; palliate; relieve (provide physical relief, as from pain)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Antonym:

irritate (excite to an abnormal condition, or chafe or inflame)

 Context examples 

Holmes soothed him with a few words and thrust him into an armchair.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The habit of entering accurately must help to soothe me.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

As for the main subject of the letter, there was nothing in that to soothe irritation.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I caressed, in order to soothe him.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“Never mind, Tommy,” I said, placing a soothing hand on his shoulder.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

His voice was soft and soothing.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Elizabeth alone had the power to draw me from these fits; her gentle voice would soothe me when transported by passion and inspire me with human feelings when sunk in torpor.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

So far went his understanding; and his vanity supplied a little additional soothing, in the Admiral's situation in life, which was just high enough, and not too high.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

“Quite so, madam,” said Holmes in his soothing way.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)