Name: _________________________________________
SAT WORDS
LESSON FIVE
Words Related to
Lessening Pain,
Tension, or
Conflict
WORDS IN CONTEXT
Lesson 5: Making Things Better
Words Related to Lessening Pain, Tension, or
Conflict
word
1. allay
2. alleviate
3. ameliorate
4. appease
5. assuage
6. conciliate
7. mediate
8. mitigate
9. mollify
10. pacify
11. placate
12. quell
pronunciation
1. uh-LAY
2. uh-LEE-vee-ate
3. uh-MEEL-yuh-rate
4. HAK -need
5. uh-SWAYJ
6. Kuhn-SIH-lee-ate
7. MEE-dee-ate
8. MIH-tuh-gate
9. MOL-uh-fie
10. PA-suh-fie
11. PLAY-kate
12. KWELL
1. The recorded sound of waterfalls and breaking waves is said to allay stress.
2. Grandma takes ALIEVE pills alleviate her arthritic pain.
3. The doctor prescribed a new ointment to ameliorate the rash on my legs.
4. Al appeased his parents’ anger by offering to walk the dog, wash the dishes, and vacuum all
week without an allowance.
5. To help Helga assuage her anger, Trent sat her down and let her vent for a while.
6. To ease the tensions between the two countries, the prime minister made a conciliatory speech
on TV.
7. To be an effective mediator, it helps to have experience in resolving conflicts.
8. A sudden shift in the wind mitigated the intensity of the storm to come.
9. Janae mollified her mother’s nagging by bringing home straight A’s on her report card.
10. The loving mother pacified her crying baby by rubbing his tummy and singing a lullaby.
11. Don’t try to placate me by telling me you’ll change in the future. Change now!
12. A nightlight helped to quell the baby’s fear of the dark.
Name: _________________________________________
Lesson 5: Making Things Better
Words Related to Lessening Pain, Tension, or
Conflict
SAT WORDS
LESSON FIVE
word
Words Related to
Lessening Pain,
Tension, or
Conflict
Part I: Definition Matching
Directions: Match the twelve vocabulary words to their
definitions. To assist you, I broke them down into two
groups of six words. HIGHLIGHT
1. allay
2. alleviate
3. ameliorate
4. appease
5. assuage
6. conciliate
7. mediate
8. mitigate
9. mollify
10. pacify
11. placate
12. quell
pronunciation
1. uh-LAY
2. uh-LEE-vee-ate
3. uh-MEEL-yuh-rate
4. HAK -need
5. uh-SWAYJ
6. Kuhn-SIH-lee-ate
7. MEE-dee-ate
8. MIH-tuh-gate
9. MOL-uh-fie
10. PA-suh-fie
11. PLAY-kate
12. KWELL
THE EIGHT WORDS YOU WANT TO LEARN!
_______ 1. allay
A. vb. to make (something, such as a problem) better, less painful
_______ 2. alleviate
B. vb. to make (something, such as an unpleasant feeling) less painful
_______ 3. ameliorate
C. vb. to make (something) less severe or strong
_______ 3. appease
D. vb. to make (someone) more friendly or less angry
_______ 3. assuage
E. vb. to make (someone) pleased or less angry by giving or saying
something desired
_______ 3. conciliate
F. vb. to lesson pain or discomfort
_______ 7. mediate
A. vb. to make (someone) less angry: to calm (someone) down
_______ 8. mitigate
B. vb. to cause (someone) to feel less angry about something
_______ 9. mollify
C. vb. to make (something) less severe, harmful, or painful
_______ 10. pacify
D. vb. to calm or reduce (something, such as fear or worry)
_______ 11. placate
E. vb. to act as a go-between in settling conflicts or disputes
between people or opposing sides
_______ 12. quell
F. vb. to cause (someone who is angry or upset) to become calm or
quiet
Name: _________________________________________
Practice 1: Sentence Completion
Directions: Select five to eight words from this
Lesson 5 vocabulary that you do not already know,
want to learn, and begin to use in your own writing.
Complete these sentences (ONLY your chosen
words) with thoughts that demonstrate your
knowledge of the vocabulary words’ meanings.
1. After wrecking the family car, Monty tried to
pacify his parents by
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
Lesson 5: Making Things Better
Words Related to Lessening Pain, Tension, or
Conflict
word
1. allay
2. alleviate
3. ameliorate
4. appease
5. assuage
6. conciliate
7. mediate
8. mitigate
9. mollify
10. pacify
11. placate
12. quell
pronunciation
1. uh-LAY
2. uh-LEE-vee-ate
3. uh-MEEL-yuh-rate
4. HAK -need
5. uh-SWAYJ
6. Kuhn-SIH-lee-ate
7. MEE-dee-ate
8. MIH-tuh-gate
9. MOL-uh-fie
10. PA-suh-fie
11. PLAY-kate
12. KWELL
2. In order to quell her rowdy Kindergarten class, Miss Snotnose
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
3. In order to allay Nia’s worries about her test, Mr. Tranquil decided to
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
4. Whenever Anan is late for class, he tries to appease his teacher by
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
5. Whenever you anger your best friends it is best to use some conciliatory words such as
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
6. Sarina tried to ameliorate the stress of school, so she chose to
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: _________________________________________
7. When Jay forgot his mom’s birthday, he tried to mollify her by
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
8. To alleviate the overcrowding in the halls, the students proposed
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
9. The restaurant manager tried to placate the angry customer by
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
10. To assuage the pain of her sunburn, Bailey chose to
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
11. Wyatt needed to mitigate his sore muscles, so he
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
12. Whenever there is a fight between friends, it is best to get mediator who will
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Lesson 5: Making Things Better
Words Related to Lessening Pain, Tension, or
Conflict
Name: _________________________________________
PRACTICE 2: SEMANTIC GRADIENT
word
Directions: Using the same five to eight words from
that you selected in practice one, complete five
semantic gradients using your chosen words.
Remember that gradient should contain synonyms
and get stronger in meaning from the left to the right
on the gradient. Put the word you are using
anywhere on the gradient scale.
Many of these words are synonyms. As a result, you
may use one of the synonyms on the gradient
synonym
synonym
1. allay
2. alleviate
3. ameliorate
4. appease
5. assuage
6. conciliate
7. mediate
8. mitigate
9. mollify
10. pacify
11. placate
12. quell
pronunciation
1. uh-LAY
2. uh-LEE-vee-ate
3. uh-MEEL-yuh-rate
4. HAK -need
5. uh-SWAYJ
6. Kuhn-SIH-lee-ate
7. MEE-dee-ate
8. MIH-tuh-gate
9. MOL-uh-fie
10. PA-suh-fie
11. PLAY-kate
12. KWELL
synonym
synonym
EX.
good looking
attractive
handsome
gorgeous
EX.
ordinary
everyday
overused
trite
1. _________________
_____________________
___________________
___________________
2.________________
___________________
___________________
__________________
3. ___________________
___________________
___________________
__________________
4. ___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
5. ___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
6. ___________________
___________________
___________________
__________________
7. ___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
8. ___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
9. ___________________
___________________
___________________
__________________
11. ___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
12. ___________________
___________________
___________________
__________________
Name: _________________________________________
PRACTICE 3: SENTENCE PRACTICE
Directions: Write a sentence of at least seven words
that shows your understanding of the SAT words
you have chosen to learn this week. Remember to
use the word correctly.
Lesson 5: Making Things Better
Words Related to Lessening Pain, Tension, or
Conflict
word
pronunciation
1. allay
1. uh-LAY
2. alleviate
2. uh-LEE-vee-ate
3. ameliorate
3. uh-MEEL-yuh-rate
4. appease
4. HAK -need
5. assuage
5. uh-SWAYJ
6. conciliate
6. Kuhn-SIH-lee-ate
Some students have chosen to learn and practice all
7. mediate
7. MEE-dee-ate
of the words. Each sentence is worth two points.
8. mitigate
8. MIH-tuh-gate
9. mollify
9. MOL-uh-fie
10. pacify
10. PA-suh-fie
11. placate
11. PLAY-kate
12. quell
12. KWELL
1. _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
4. _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
5. _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: _________________________________________
6. _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
7. _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
8. _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
9. _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
10. _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
11. _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
12. _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________