soothe
/suːð/verb
soothe is spelled S-O-O-T-H-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “sooth vs soothe” about 210 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, soothe means “To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in soothe?
| Letters | 6: S-O-O-T-H-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is soothe?
Soothe appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce soothe?
- /suːð/
Soothe has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-soothe.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with soothe
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: sooth.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of soothe
- soothes present, singular, he/she/it
- soothing participle, present
- soothed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does soothe mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh.
- 2
To allay; assuage; mitigate; soften.
- 3
rareTo smooth over; render less obnoxious.
- 4
To calm or placate someone or some situation.
- 5
To ease or relieve pain or suffering.
- 6
To temporise by assent, concession, flattery, or cajolery.
- 7
To bring comfort or relief.
- 8
To keep in good humour; wheedle; cajole; flatter.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Soothe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | apaiser , calmer , soulager |
| German | beruhigen, Wogen glätten, mildern, besänftigen, gütig stimmen |
| Portuguese | acalmar , aliviar |
| Spanish | serenar, aserenar , desenconar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does soothe come from?
From Middle English sothen (“to verify, prove the validity of”), from Old English sōþian (“to verify, prove, confirm, bear witness to”), from Proto-West Germanic *sanþōn, from Proto-Germanic *sanþōną (“to prove, certify, acknowledge, testify”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”). Cognate with Danish sande (“to verify”), Swedish sanna (“to verify”), Icelandic sanna (“to verify”). See also sooth. Displaced Old English frēfran, ġefrēfran (“to comfort, console, soothe”), and partially displaced Old English stillan, ġestillan (“to calm, become calm, pacify, quieten”) (whence modern still).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).