Solace Meaning: Comfort, Peace, Examples and Quiz

Solace (noun and verb). Solace is comfort or relief during sadness, worry or difficulty. It can also refer to the person or thing that provides that comfort. As a verb, solace means to comfort or console.

Example: After moving away from home, Arun found solace in his weekly calls with his sister.

Pronunciation guide: SOL-uhs. Capital letters show the stressed syllable.

Explore the usage · Try the three-question quiz · Keep learning

What does “find solace in” mean?

To find solace in something is to receive comfort from it. “She found solace in painting” means that painting gave her some comfort during a difficult time.

Take solace in has a similar use: “He took solace in knowing that his friends supported him.” Both phrases can be followed by a noun or an -ing form.

You can also offer solace, bring solace or describe something as a source of solace. Practise a complete phrase rather than memorising the word alone.

Solace vs peace and comfort

Solace focuses on comfort in response to trouble or sadness. Peace can mean calm, quiet or freedom from conflict. A peaceful place may offer solace, but the words are not interchangeable in every context.

“We enjoyed the peace of the empty garden” describes its calm. “She found solace in the garden after a disappointment” connects that setting with emotional comfort.

Comfort has a wider range of uses. A comfortable chair offers physical ease; kind words can offer emotional comfort or solace. Solace does not have to be spiritual, and it does not mean that all sadness has ended.

Solace in sentences

• The familiar song brought her some solace during the long journey.
• He took solace in the fact that the lost notebook had been found.
• Working alongside friends was a source of solace after the disappointing result.
• The thought of meeting again solaced them as they said goodbye.

The last sentence uses the verb, which can sound more literary than “comforted.” The first three use the noun.

Grammar, pronunciation and origin

Use solace as a noun in “She found solace.” In “The letters solaced him,” it is a verb. The verb forms include solaces, solaced and solacing.

The main stress is on the first syllable; the vowel varies between accents. The word came through French from Latin forms connected with consolation.

For a writing exercise, describe a fictional character’s disappointment and the small thing that comforts them. This gives the reader a reason for your choice of word.

Practise solace: three quick questions

Try each question before opening its answer. If a question asks you to write a sentence, your own correct example is welcome.

Question 1

Can someone find solace while still feeling sad?

Question 2

Complete: “She found solace ___ writing letters.” Choose in or at.

Question 3

In “Their kind words solaced him,” is solaced a noun or a verb?

Keep learning

Compare these words next: Fervent meaning and practice and Impeccable meaning and practice.

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Dictionary reference: Merriam-Webster: Solace. The examples and practice questions on this page are written for English Skill Studio.