Reassured

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To have alleviated someone's fears by providing comfort and confidence To have instilled a feeling of safety and certainty in individuals To have communicated reassurance that diminishes anxiety and builds trust in others
2. To provide comfort that reduces worry and strengthens confidence
3. To ease someone's concerns by offering support and positive affirmation

Etymology: "Reassured" is the past tense and past participle of "reassure," so the story belongs to the verb itself. "Reassure" came into English from Old French "rasseürer," the French "rassurer," which combined the prefix "re-" with "asseürer," meaning "to assure." Its prefix "re-" carries the sense of restoring something, so to reassure someone is to make them secure again after doubt has unsettled them. The root "assure" traces back to Latin "securus," meaning "free from care," the same ancestor that gives English "secure" and "sure." Over time the verb "assure" came to mean "to make certain" or "to promise," and "reassure" kept that sense of restoring a settled mind. Where "assure" points forward to confidence, "reassure" points back to a state of calm that was briefly lost.

Synonyms: comforted, consoled, calmed, solaced, encouraged

Antonyms: worried, distressed, upset, agitated, troubled