Definitions and Examples of alleviate, ease, relieve
Learn when and how to use these words with these examples!
To make something less severe or intense; to ease or reduce pain, discomfort, or stress.
Example
Taking a warm bath can help alleviate muscle soreness after a workout.
To make something less difficult, burdensome, or stressful; to provide comfort or relief.
Example
The new software update will ease the process of creating invoices for small business owners.
To free someone from a burden, responsibility, or duty; to provide assistance or support.
Example
Hiring a virtual assistant can relieve you of administrative tasks and allow you to focus on your core business.
Key Differences: alleviate vs ease vs relieve
- 1Alleviate and ease are similar in that they both refer to making something less severe or intense, but ease also implies making something less difficult or burdensome.
- 2Relieve is different from the other two antonyms as it refers to freeing someone from a burden or responsibility rather than reducing the severity of something.
Effective Usage of alleviate, ease, relieve
- 1Healthcare: Use alleviate to describe treatments that reduce pain or discomfort.
- 2Productivity: Use ease to describe tools or processes that simplify tasks and reduce stress.
- 3Management: Use relieve to describe delegating tasks or responsibilities to others.
Remember this!
The antonyms have distinct nuances: Alleviate and ease refer to reducing the severity of something, while relieve refers to freeing someone from a burden. Use these words in healthcare to describe treatments, in productivity to describe tools or processes, and in management to describe delegating tasks or responsibilities.