Reassuring

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ɹiːəˈʃɔːɹɪŋ/

Definitions

1. Giving a sense of comfort and confidence to relieve anxiety or fear
2. Offering encouragement or support that helps ease worry or doubt
3. Creating a feeling of safety and certainty to reduce stress or concern

Etymology: "Reassuring" is the present participle of "reassure," and the verb's history is a tidy chain of French prefixes. It comes from Old French "rasseürer," which is the French "rassurer," built from "re-" plus "asseürer," the ancestor of the English "assure." The "as-" in "assure" is a prefix meaning "to" or "toward," so the older sense was closer to making something certain for someone. Because "re-" can mean "again" or "back," the verb picked up a sense of restoring confidence that had been shaken. That is why "reassure" describes calming someone who had begun to doubt, rather than simply giving them a fact. The adjective carries that same restoring sense: a reassuring remark puts back the certainty that worry had knocked loose.

Synonyms: comforting, soothing, encouraging, calming, assuring

Antonyms: unsettling, disquieting, frightening, alarming