consolatory

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈsɒl.ət.(ə)ɹ.i/
• (US) IPA^(key): /kənˈsoʊl.ə.tɔɹ.i/, /kənˈsɑl.ə.tɔɹ.i/

consolatory (comparative more consolatory, superlative most consolatory)

1. Which consoles.
   • 1523, John Skelton, “The quene of fame to dame Pallas” in A ryght delectable treatyse upon a goodly garlande or chapelet of laurell,

     […] where in he reporteth of the coragius

     wordes that were moch consolatory […]

   • 1649, John Donne, Fifty Sermons, London: M.F., J. Marriot and R. Royston, Volume 2, “Sermon XVII. Preached at Lincolns Inne,” p. 140,

     Where then is the restorative, the consolatory nature of these words? In this, beloved, consists our comfort […]

   • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, London: J. Dodsley, p. 123,

     The punishment of real tyrants is a noble and awful act of justice; and it has with truth been said to be consolatory to the human mind.

   • 1849, Charlotte Brontë, Shirley, Chapter 12,

     “It is singularly reviving after such hurricanes to feel calm return, and from the opening clouds to receive a consolatory gleam, softly testifying that the sun is not quenched.”

   • 1964, Hortense Calisher, “A Christmas Carillon” in Extreme Magic: A Novella and Other Stories, Boston: Little, Brown, p. 64,

     Supper had been eaten, the turkey had been trussed, the children at last persuaded into their beds. That was the consolatory side of family life, Grorley thought—the long, Olympian codas of the emotions were cut short by the niggling detail.

• consolatorily
• consolatoriness

consolatory (plural consolatories)

1. That which consoles; a speech or writing intended for consolation.
   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 658-662, in Paradise Regain’d […] to which is added Samson Agonistes, London: John Starkey, pp. 43-44,

     Consolatories writ

     With studied argument, and much perswasion sought

     Lenient of grief and anxious thought,

     But with' afflicted in his pangs thir sound

     Little prevails,

   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, London: for the author, Volume 6, Letter 48, p. 189,

     How is it possible to imagine, that a woman, who has all these consolatories to reflect upon, will die of a broken heart?