To “assuage” means to provide relief from something uncomfortable or distressing. You often hear it used to describe “assuaging guilt,” which means to make someone feel less guilty. The only answer choice that matches this definition is “allay.” Allay means to relieve or calm the severity of something. Both words describe the relieving of an unpleasant sensation.

"Lament" means to mourn or to express sorrow or grief. "Revolve" means to orbit or to circle. "Prod" means to poke. "Extinguish" means to put out something, usually a fire. "Endorse" means to support or approve.

"Detest" means to hate or strongly dislike. "Expose" means to disclose or reveal something unknown or hidden. "Speed up" means to travel or move faster. "Alter" means to modify or to change. "Neutralize" means to offset or make ineffective.

To "assuage" is to relieve, to soothe, or to make less severe.

"Vex" means to irritate. "Derive" means to obtain or acquire something. "Dissipate" means to disperse. "Avert" means to turn away or avoid. "Ridicule" means to mock or to laugh at.

To vex is to annoy or to confuse.

The verb "flustered" means unsettled, made nervous by something. Additionally, "composed" means calm and under control; "poised" means showing calm and composure in a stressful situation; "supreme" means best, superior, greatest; "recondite" means (of knowledge) obscure and arcane, known by only a few.

"Harrow" means distress.

"Deplore" means "abhor," or to strongly hate or detest. "Demote" means to downgrade or move downwards in position. "Wreck" means to ruin or destroy. "Inundate" means to flood or overwhelm. "Shrink" means to make smaller.

"Agonize" means to worry greatly about something and is ofted used in the phrase "to agonize over" something. So, "worry" is the correct answer. "Perpetrate" means to commit or carry out a crime. "Laud" means to applaud or to praise. "Depict" means to show or demonstrate. "Gargle" means to clean or wash one's throat or mouth with a liquid substance.