alleviate

verb

use ice to alleviate the swelling

Syn:

reduce, ease, relieve, take the edge off, deaden, dull, diminish, lessen, weaken, lighten, attenuate, mitigate, allay, assuage, palliate, damp, soothe, help, soften, temper

Ant:

aggravate

••

alleviate, abate, allay, assuage, mitigate, relieve, temper

To alleviate is to make something easier to endure (alleviate the pain following surgery); allay is often used interchangeably, but it also means to put to rest, to quiet or calm (to allay their suspicions). Assuage and allay both suggest the calming or satisfying of a desire or appetite, but assuage implies a more complete or permanent satisfaction (we allay our hunger by nibbling hors d'oeuvres, but a huge dinner assuages our appetite). To relieve implies reducing the misery or discomfort to the point where something is bearable (relieve the monotony of the cross-country bus trip) and mitigate, which comes from a Latin word meaning to soften, usually means to lessen in force or intensity (mitigate the storm's impact).Abate suggests a progressive lessening in degree or intensity (her fever was abating). To temper is to soften or moderate (to temper justice with mercy), but it can also mean the exact opposite: to harden or toughen something (tempering steel; a body tempered by lifting weights).