reassure · verb — to assure anew; to restore confidence to; to free from fear or self-doubt. It carries an Arena rating of 1589, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, reassure ranks #706 of 17,162 for Most Elegant Words, #3,898 of 17,188 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #4,955 of 17,165 for Most Beautiful Words, #6,827 of 17,176 for Most Incisive Words.
reassure is pronounced /ˌɹi.əˈʃʊə(ɹ)/.
Why “reassure” is a great word
To restore confidence by removing doubt or fear. From Old French *rasseürer* (modern French *rassurer*), from *re-* ("again") + *asseürer* ("to assure"), first recorded in English 1590–1600. Unlike "empower," which provides tools for self-reliance, or "console," which soothes grief already endured, to reassure is the gentle correction of a wobbling mind, an external act of quieting anxiety about what may yet come. It is the steady pressure of a hand on a shoulder before a daunting door, the low, certain voice in the dark that names the creaking stairs for what they are, the lover's promise whispered across miles of telephone wire—that particular human labor of drawing another back from the edge of dread, not with force, but with the borrowed conviction that they will survive it.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Old French rasseürer (French rassurer), from re- + asseürer; as if re- + assure.
verb
- To assure anew; to restore confidence to; to free from fear or self-doubt.e.g.“The boy's mother reassured him that there was no monster hiding under the bed.”
- To reinsure.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
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