Meaning & use
comfort
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Meanings
noununcountable
A pleasant feeling of being relaxed, warm, and free from pain or worry.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: live in comfort, not 'a comfort' for this sense.
Patterns
- in comfort
- for comfort
They traveled in comfort on the night train.
The soft chairs were designed for comfort.
She wore loose clothes for comfort.
noununcountable
Relief or support given to someone who is sad or upset.
Grammar: Uncountable: take comfort in something; offer comfort to someone.
Patterns
- take comfort in something
- offer comfort to someone
Her letter gave him great comfort after the loss.
I took comfort in knowing the others were safe.
The nurse offered comfort to the frightened child.
nouncountable
A person or thing that makes you feel better or that makes life easier.
Grammar: Countable and often singular: a comfort to someone; the comforts of home.
Patterns
- a comfort to someone
- the comforts of something
Her dog was a great comfort during the illness.
They missed the comforts of home on the trip.
verbtransitive
To make someone feel calmer or less sad by showing kindness and sympathy.
Grammar: Takes an object: comfort a friend.
Patterns
- comfort someone
- comfort someone with something
He put an arm around her to comfort her.
The teacher comforted the crying boy.
Parents often comfort children with a story.
Word forms
| plural | comforts |
|---|---|
| third person singular | comforts |
| past tense | comforted |
| past participle | comforted |
| -ing form | comforting |
Common combinations
- take comfort in
- Take comfort in the fact that you tried.
- cold comfort
- The small refund was cold comfort.
- creature comforts
- The cabin lacks creature comforts.
- comfort zone
- Public speaking is outside my comfort zone.
- words of comfort
- She offered words of comfort.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ease
- Ease stresses freedom from difficulty or effort rather than emotional relief.
- consolation
- Consolation is comfort after a loss or disappointment specifically.
- console
- Console, as a verb, is more formal and only applies to sadness.
Opposites
Word family
- comfortable adjective
- giving or feeling comfort
- comfortably adverb
- in a comfortable way
- comforting adjective
- giving reassurance
- discomfort noun
- slight pain or unease
Commonly confused: comfort or comfortable?
comfort vs comfortable
Comfortable is the adjective; comfort is the noun or verb.
Practice
After the match, the coach tried to ___ the disappointed players.
Choose one answer.
A verb is needed after 'to', and 'comfort' means to calm someone's sadness. 'Discomfort' is a noun meaning unease, and 'comfortable' is an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “comfort”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.