What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Soothe vs Irritate - What's the difference?

soothe | irritate |

As verbs the difference between soothe and irritate

is that soothe is (obsolete) to prove true; verify; confirm as true while irritate is (lb) to provoke impatience, anger, or displeasure.

soothe

English

Verb

(sooth)
  • (obsolete) To prove true; verify; confirm as true.
  • (obsolete) To confirm the statements of; maintain the truthfulness of (a person); bear out.
  • (obsolete) To assent to; yield to; humour by agreement or concession.
  • To keep in good humour; wheedle; cajole; flatter.
  • To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh.
  • * 2013 , Daniel Taylor, Andros Townsend calms England's nerves in taming of Montenegro'' (in ''The Guardian , 11 October 2013)[http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/11/england-montenegro-world-cup-qualifier]
  • Yet Wayne Rooney scored at a good time, three minutes after the restart, to soothe any gathering nerves and the night can ultimately be chalked off as one of the finest occasions of Hodgson's 17 months in the job.
  • To allay; assuage; mitigate; soften.
  • (rare) To smooth over; render less obnoxious.
  • To calm or placate someone or some situation.
  • To ease or relieve pain or suffering.
  • To temporise by assent, concession, flattery, or cajolery.
  • To bring comfort or relief.
  • Derived terms

    * soothing

    irritate

    English

    Verb

    (irritat)
  • (lb) To provoke impatience, anger, or displeasure.
  • *
  • *:Thanks to that penny he had just spent so recklessly [on a newspaper] he would pass a happy hour, taken, for once, out of his anxious, despondent, miserable self. It irritated him shrewdly to know that these moments of respite from carking care would not be shared with his poor wife, with careworn, troubled Ellen.
  • (lb) To introduce irritability or irritation in.
  • (lb) To cause or induce displeasure or irritation.
  • (lb) To induce pain in (all or part of a body or organism).
  • (lb) To render null and void.
  • :(Archbishop Bramhall)
  • Synonyms

    * provoke * rile

    Antonyms

    * please

    See also

    * exasperate * peeve * disturb English intransitive verbs English transitive verbs ----