Antonyms:

comfort, delight, ease, enjoyment, peace, rapture, relief, solace.

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PALLIATE.

Synonyms:

apologize for, conceal, extenuate, hide, screen,
cloak, cover, gloss over, mitigate, veil.

_Cloak_, from the French, and _palliate_, from the Latin, are the same
in original signification, but have diverged in meaning; a _cloak_ may
be used to _hide_ completely the person or some object carried about the
person, or it may but partly _veil_ the figure, making the outlines less
distinct; _cloak_ is used in the former, _palliate_, in the latter
sense; to _cloak_ a sin is to attempt to _hide_ it from discovery; to
_palliate_ it is to attempt to _hide_ some part of its blameworthiness.
"When we _palliate_ our own or others' faults we do not seek to _cloke_
them altogether, but only to _extenuate_ the guilt of them in part."
TRENCH _Study of Words_ lect. vi, p. 266. Either to _palliate_ or to
_extenuate_ is to admit the fault; but to _extenuate_ is rather to
_apologize_ for the offender, while to _palliate_ is to disguise the
fault; hence, we speak of _extenuating_ but not of _palliating_
circumstances, since circumstances can not change the inherent wrong of
an act, tho they may lessen the blameworthiness of him who does it;
_palliating_ a bad thing by giving it a mild name does not make it less
evil. In reference to diseases, to _palliate_ is really to diminish
their violence, or partly to relieve the sufferer. Compare ALLEVIATE;
HIDE.

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PARDON, _v._

Synonyms:

absolve, condone, forgive, pass by, remit.
acquit, excuse, overlook, pass over,

To _pardon_ is to let pass, as a fault or sin, without resentment,
blame, or punishment. _Forgive_ has reference to feelings, _pardon_ to
consequences; hence, the executive may _pardon_, but has nothing to do
officially with _forgiving_. Personal injury may be _forgiven_ by the
person wronged; thus, God at once _forgives_ and _pardons_; the
_pardoned_ sinner is exempt from punishment; the _forgiven_ sinner is
restored to the divine favor. To _pardon_ is the act of a superior,
implying the right to punish; to _forgive_ is the privilege of the
humblest person who has been wronged or offended. In law, to _remit_ the
whole penalty is equivalent to _pardoning_ the offender; but a part of a
penalty may be _remitted_ and the remainder inflicted, a