comfortingly
- adverb
- /ˈkʌmfərtɪŋli/
- Solid, secure, and comfortingly affluent.
- comfortingly familiar
- comfortingly warm
- said comfortingly
Examples
-
One of the nurses replied comfortingly:
Fiction book (1998) -
"Your face is as white as whitewash," she said, but added comfortingly, "You'll get better."
Fiction book (1997) -
And now that is comfortingly secure.
-
"Had to be said," he offered comfortingly.
Fiction book (1992) -
"There, now," said the policeman comfortingly.
Fiction book (1990) -
Suddenly, his hand starts stroking his shoulder comfortingly.
Fiction book (2002) -
Owyn kneels beside him, holding his hand comfortingly.
Fiction book (2002) -
Hilary Benson jumped up, went to her, and put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.
Fiction book (1996) -
The motorway was behind them, Relkirk bypassed, and the winding road was comfortingly familiar, leading them to Strathcroy and home.
Fiction book (1990) -
She spoke comfortingly, ensuring that I knew everything would be fine.
Synonyms
In a gentle, caring way that shows love
In a way that makes someone feel less worried
In a way that makes someone feel calm and safe
In a way that gives someone more confidence or hope
In a way that helps and encourages someone
In a way that helps someone feel less sad
In a way that makes someone feel less worried and more confident
In a gentle way that makes someone feel less afraid or worried
In a way that gives people hope
Antonyms
How Comforting
Surface Forms
Morphology
comfortingly = comforting (transparent) = comfort + ing + ly
The adverb is formed by adding the productive adverbial suffix '-ly' to the clear adjective 'comforting', yielding 'in a comforting manner'.
Etymology
Comfortingly comes from comfort, which comes from old parts meaning 'with' (com-) and 'strength' (fort). So to comfort someone is to give them strength or calm, and to act comfortingly is to reassure or make them feel safe.