Word Confusion: Sooth versus Soothe

Posted February 2, 2015 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
11 July 2023

Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum, for truth is not usually calming.

In sooth, everyone needs to proofread their work, and that idea does not soothe any writer.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Sooth Soothe

The Soothsayer from Dr. Who's Soothsayer episode

Soothsayer, Karo Tribe, Ethiopia, by Rod Waddington is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.

A soothsayer speaks sooth, in truth.


Baby sucking its thumb

Self-soothing is VanessaQ’s own work under the CC-BY-SA-3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.

Part of Grammar:
Adjective; Noun

Plural for the noun: sooth

Verb, intransitive & transitive

Third person present verb: soothes
Past tense or past participle: soothed
Present participle: soothing

True, real


Adjective:
Providing physical or emotional relief, soft, or sweet

True, real

Smooth

Noun:
[Archaic] Truth

  • Really
Reduce pain or discomfort


Verb, intransitive:
To exert a soothing influence

Bring tranquillity, calm, ease, or comfort

Verb, transitive:
Gently calm a person or their feelings

Reduce pain or discomfort in a part of the body

Relieve or ease pain

Examples:
Adjective:
“The e’er this tongue of mine, that led the sentence of dread banishment on yond proud man, should take it off again with words of sooth” (Shakespeare).

He looks like sooth.

“The soothest shepherd that e’er pip’d on plains” (Milton).

Noun:
In sooth, it was a peaceful night.

“Ay, sooth, so humbled. That he hath left part of his grief with me” (Shakespeare).

‘Twas so in sooth that he did stab with his own hands.

In sooth, he is cunning enough to pocket Lucifer’s hoard (Word).

“The life-buoy — a long slender cask — was dropped from the stern, where it always hung obedient to a cunning spring; but no hand rose to seize it, and the sun having long beat upon this cask it had shrunken, so that it slowly filled, and that parched wood also filled at its every pore; and the studded iron-bound cask followed the sailor to the bottom, as if to yield him his pillow, though in sooth but a hard one” (How).

Verb, intransitive:
The lotion soothes as it heals.

Sleep soothes as you rest.

“How now, he soliloquized at last, withdrawing the tube, this smoking no longer soothes. Oh, my pipe!” (Melville).

Verb, transitive:
He was elected to soothe the wounds of the Bush era.

I think some hot chocolate will soothe those fears.

Rub some aloe on to soothe your skin.

A shot of brandy might soothe his nerves.

A topical anesthetic might soothe the pain.

Try some chamomile or thyme to soothe his skin.

Music helped soothe him to sleep.

Derivatives:
Adjective: soother, soothest
Adverb: forsooth, soothly
Adjective: oversoothing, self-soothed, soothing, unsoothed
Adverb: soothingly, oversoothingly, self-soothing
Noun: soother, soothing, soothingness
History of the Word:
Old English sōth, originally an adjective in the sense of genuine or true, is of Germanic origin. Old English sōthian meaning verify, show to be true, from sōth meaning true (see sooth above).

In the 16th century, the verb passed through the senses corroborate (a statement), humor (a person) by expressing assent, and flatter by one’s assent, whence came mollify and appease in the late 17th century.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Sooth versus Soothe

Apple Dictionary.com

“How to Use Sooth in a Sentence.” Your Dictionary. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/sooth#Y7IIySksMbXl6K9D.99>.

Melville, Herman. Moby Dick, or The Whale. Richard Bentley, London: 1851. ClassicBooks by KTHTK: 2022. <https://amzn.to/3WC603e>. Ebook.

Milton, John. Comus. 2012. <https://amzn.to/3fBt01z>.

Shakespeare, William. Othello. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2020. <https://amzn.to/3ycefc8>.

— — —. Richard II: The Life and Death of Richard the Second. 2020. <https://amzn.to/3yeAsWT>.

“Word: Sooth.” FatLingo. 27 Oct 2015. Web. n.d. <http://www.fatlingo.com/use-in-a-sentence/?word=sooth>.

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Pinterest Photo Credits

Vanitas by Barthel Beham is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, while Found in the Back of a Closet, Part 1 is by Purple Slog is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr.

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