What's the difference between assuage and mollify?

Assuage


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To soften, in a figurative sense; to allay, mitigate, ease, or lessen, as heat, pain, or grief; to appease or pacify, as passion or tumult; to satisfy, as appetite or desire.
  • (v. i.) To abate or subside.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) But the fact Yellen is even being considered is a feat in itself as central banking is still an old boy’s club, Cooper adds: The new Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney may have assuaged feminists with his choice of Jane Austen for the ten pound note, but his Monetary Policy Committee is female free.
  • (2) Their frustration at the failure here cannot be underestimated and it cannot be easily assuaged through more elections.
  • (3) He had also insisted on construction continuing at Arak, and suggested that international concerns could be assuaged if the work stopped short of putting uranium fuel in the reactor and turning it on.
  • (4) Nonetheless, he achieved much in his six months in charge: he implemented Oslo II ahead of schedule, assuaged the religious right, bolstered the economy and co-operated with Arafat over the first-ever Palestinian elections.
  • (5) Initial findings of a limited study of one of the groups suggest a high degree of agreement among parent-members as to the ameliorative effect of this type of therapy, notably its capacity to assuage feelings of isolation.
  • (6) Moreover, she explains, seeing off the paedo-menace has yielded other improvements: the child protection sessions are part of a council drive to assuage community fears that has been careful to take grass-roots sentiment on board.
  • (7) Before it is realised, however, pioneers like Amazon will have to assuage the doubts of privacy activists concerned about the impact on civil liberties and of government regulators worried about how flying robots would interact with manned aircraft.
  • (8) It was a highly provocative gesture that did nothing to assuage fears that Morsi’s election marked the gateway to a more extremist Egypt.
  • (9) Water or diluted fruit juice may be used to assuage thirst, but should not supplant milk even in the later stages of weaning, since they contain no calcium or most other essential micronutrients.
  • (10) Fahmy's announcement may assuage concerns that the new army-installed government that replaced Morsi's is attempting to stall a return to democratic politics.
  • (11) While Wednesday's ruling could be seen as a victory for the PDRC, it is unlikely to assuage protesters, who may now turn on the new caretaker prime minister, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Thailand's Institute of Security and International Studies.
  • (12) This protocol provides a systematic approach to investigation and analysis, prioritizes the need for more in-depth study, and, when necessary, assuages community concerns when a disease cluster is reported.
  • (13) However, it is unclear if Clinton’s opposition to Arctic drilling, and support of Keystone pipeline, will assuage liberals who accuse her of political maneuvering in the face of a surprisingly successful challenge from Sanders.
  • (14) The 57-year-old issued a full apology to "patients, relatives and carers [who] found themselves in the position where they not only had terrible things happen to them but the very organisation they looked to for support let them down in the most devastating of ways" – but this did little to assuage the anger felt.
  • (15) The US Senate's defeat of a background check expansion three weeks ago did nothing to assuage the fears of Missouri Republicans, who pressed forward with their legislation.
  • (16) But the cash has only gone some way towards assuaging critics, one of whom complained that companies should not be able to "pick and choose" how much tax they wanted to pay.
  • (17) The limitation will go some way to assuage the concerns of German taxpayers whose frustration at the prospect of having to bail out indebted southern European countries indefinitely has been on the rise.
  • (18) Acupuncture assuaged the emotional, but not the sensory, response to the painful stimulation.
  • (19) Both feeding patterns involve assuagement of hunger needs but are dependent on social setting.
  • (20) The top US commander in Afghanistan rushed to assuage those concerns, saying the deal was not a "zero option" that would leave the country's security forces isolated after 2016, acknowledging critical components such as the fledgling air force would probably get intense and longer-term support.

Mollify


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To soften; to make tender; to reduce the hardness, harshness, or asperity of; to qualify; as, to mollify the ground.
  • (v. t.) To assuage, as pain or irritation, to appease, as excited feeling or passion; to pacify; to calm.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "On the contrary, they often serve to inflame rather than mollify the feelings of those involved."
  • (2) The government has promised to pay for the treatment costs of the victims, but parents are unlikely to be easily mollified.
  • (3) Randomized studies, attempting to clarify the role of combined azathioprine and prednisone therapy versus prednisone alone in severe systemic lupus erythematosus have sustained rather than mollified a clinical controversy.
  • (4) All the evidence is that, in Scotland at least, had Corbyn been in charge at the time of the election, even the time of last year’s referendum, Labour’s meltdown may have been substantially mollified.
  • (5) The Department for Transport unveiled several tweaks to the first stage of the HS2 route to mollify opponents in the wealthy commuter belt north and west of London.
  • (6) The city's Communist Party chief Tang Jun and mayor Li Wancai attempted to mollify the crowd with a promise to move the polluting project out of the city," according to the Xinhua news agency.
  • (7) The next time you hear mollifying words from Rudd that our rising debt levels are at reasonable levels compared to other countries, think about how Britons were lulled into the financial danger zone and ask yourself: are we on the same trajectory?
  • (8) What is now known, thanks to the Leveson process, is that James Murdoch was considerably mollified at the time.
  • (9) In a bid to mollify critics, Obama said: "We will never undertake this research lightly.
  • (10) This seems like a statement designed simply to mollify concerned backbenchers but lacking the substance to actually protect the countryside from fracking pollution.” Martin Harper, RSPB’s conservation director, said: “We are very pleased the government has indicated it intends to ban fracking in England’s best places for wildlife, Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
  • (11) On the contrary they often serve to inflame rather than mollify the feelings of those involved."
  • (12) He thinks, too, that Downing Street's recent concerns over the children's services agenda - its perceived lack of measurable outcomes and its feared drag on academic attainment - have been mollified.
  • (13) I hope you understand.” Supporters – overwhelmingly pro-Federer, as usual – were mollified to an extent that Andy Murray , who suffered an overwhelming defeat by Federer in the final qualifying match, would step in to play a “pro set” of first to eight games against Djokovic, as well as a doubles match, partnering John McEnroe against Tim Henman and Pat Cash.
  • (14) But, apparently mollified by Gove's comments, Wilshaw put out a fresh statement on Sunday night, saying: "I have talked to the secretary of state today and I know that he is 100% supportive of my leadership.
  • (15) His reasons were the sheer scale of emissions from China’s coal-fuelled factories, and a need to mollify American public opinion.
  • (16) The speech appeared to be an attempt to rally his Islamist support base, with little to mollify the millions who marched for his removal in July.
  • (17) The investigations into Mubarak's sons are expected to mollify the opposition.
  • (18) Corbyn faces tension between assuring supporters that the policy direction will change and the need to mollify some frontbenchers who regard international issues, such as the UK-US relationship, as a principle they cannot compromise on.
  • (19) Nor were they mollified by his refusal to underwrite their future should any of them be convicted.
  • (20) His appointment could mollify Independent journalists worried that the potential appointment of Liddle could overturn the paper's liberal values.