verb
-
to relieve (pain, grief, etc) or be relieved
-
(tr) to reduce (fear, anger, etc)
Related Words
Allay, moderate, soothe mean to reduce excitement or emotion. To allay is to lay to rest or lull to a sense of security, possibly by making the emotion seem unjustified: to allay suspicion, anxiety, fears. To moderate is to tone down any excess and thus to restore calm: to moderate the expression of one's grief. To soothe is to exert a pacifying or tranquilizing influence: to soothe a terrified child.
Other Word Forms
- allayer noun
- unallayed adjective
Etymology
Origin of allay
before 1000; Middle English aleyen, Old English ālecgan to put down, allay ( ā- a- 3 + lecgan to lay 1 ); spelling -ll- shows influence of the now obsolete allege (< Anglo-French, Old French aleg ( i ) er; allege ) to alleviate, allay
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
EU officials say they have gone out of their way to allay Belgian worries and that multiple layers of protection -- including guarantees from other member states -- mean the risks are minimal.
From Barron's
Discovery while trying to allay fears the deal will hurt the entertainment industry.
From Los Angeles Times
As my colleague Sabrina Escobar reports, this year’s total helped allay fears that a weakened consumer wouldn’t show up to shop.
From Barron's
This person tries to allay the fears of the men as she appeals to them to "hang in there, we are doing everything we can".
From BBC
That should also allay fears of inflated valuations for artificial intelligence plays—as Barron’s has argued, any bubble is unlikely to burst while the Fed is in the midst of cutting rates.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
