Assuage vs Placate: What’s the Difference?

The difference at a glance

Placate is about calming a person who is angry or upset — reducing interpersonal tension. Assuage is about easing an internal feeling — grief, guilt, fear, anxiety. You placate someone by managing their reaction to you; you assuage their grief by acknowledging what they feel. Placate works on the relationship; assuage works on the feeling. You can placate someone without addressing the feeling underneath; assuaging goes deeper.

What does Assuage mean?

verb · /əˈsweɪdʒ/

To make a feeling of pain, distress, or discomfort less intense or severe; to calm, soothe, or relieve. Can also mean to satisfy a need or appetite.

Assuage in a sentence

She tried to assuage his fears with a calm, steady presence.

Nothing could fully assuage the guilt he carried after that decision.

What does Placate mean?

verb · /ˈpleɪ.keɪt/

To make a person less angry, upset, or hostile by conciliation or by conceding something; to appease or pacify.

Placate in a sentence

He brought flowers, hoping to placate her after the argument.

The company issued a statement designed to placate its investors, though few were convinced.

Frequently asked questions