conciliate
verb
con·cil·i·ate kən-ˈsi-lē-ˌāt 
conciliated; conciliating
transitive verb
1
: appease
… urgently counseled conciliating the peasants …
William Taubman
William Taubman2
: to gain (something, such as goodwill) by pleasing acts
3
: to make compatible : reconcile
It is hard to conciliate the views of labor and management on this point.
intransitive verb
: to become friendly or agreeable
conciliation
kən-ˌsi-lē-ˈā-shən
noun conciliative
kən-ˈsi-lē-ˌā-tiv
adjective conciliator
kən-ˈsi-lē-ˌā-tər
noun 
Did you know?
Now here’s a people pleaser. The immediate source of conciliate is a form of the Latin verb conciliare, meaning "to assemble, unite, win over," and when conciliate was first used in the 16th century, the idea of winning over was key; it was used to mean "to gain something, such as goodwill or favor, by pleasing acts." Today, conciliate is mostly used in contexts where appease or reconcile is a more common choice, as in "a refusal to conciliate the dictator," and "efforts to conciliate the views of those on opposing sides." Like the word council, conciliate ultimately traces back to the Latin word concilium, meaning "assembly, council."
Synonyms
- accommodate
- attune
- conform
- coordinate
- harmonize
- key
- reconcile
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
The company's attempts to conciliate the strikers have failed. it will be hard to conciliate the views of labor and management regarding health benefits
Recent Examples on the Web Much as former President Barack Obama once courted congressional Republicans, Tromp sought to conciliate the conservative legislators. Daniel Golden, ProPublica, 4 July 2022 Biden’s team has absorbed, even invited, criticism from authoritarians whom Trump used to conciliate. Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner, 25 Mar. 2021 Refusing either to conciliate or coerce Southern states rushing headlong into secession, Lincoln maintained... Harold Holzer, WSJ, 15 May 2020 Rather than jousting with citizen groups at zoning-board meetings, Mr. Traurig tried to conciliate them in advance. James R. Hagerty, WSJ, 27 July 2018 Trump’s determination to conciliate Putin can’t be dismissed as casual trolling or some idle attraction to a friendly face. Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, 8 July 2018 Bickering over cabin choices and roommates until the older children brought in the authorities, in the form of parents, to conciliate. Oddur Thorisson, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 June 2018 Attorney General Jeff Sessions has proclaimed the end of Obama-era reforms which conciliated between civil-rights activists and police to yield a wave of law-enforcement reforms. Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, 24 May 2018 There are no complexities, no ambiguities, no conflicting views to consider or conciliate. Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, 8 May 2018 See More
Daniel Golden, ProPublica, 4 July 2022 Biden’s team has absorbed, even invited, criticism from authoritarians whom Trump used to conciliate. Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner, 25 Mar. 2021 Refusing either to conciliate or coerce Southern states rushing headlong into secession, Lincoln maintained... Harold Holzer, WSJ, 15 May 2020 Rather than jousting with citizen groups at zoning-board meetings, Mr. Traurig tried to conciliate them in advance. James R. Hagerty, WSJ, 27 July 2018 Trump’s determination to conciliate Putin can’t be dismissed as casual trolling or some idle attraction to a friendly face. Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, 8 July 2018 Bickering over cabin choices and roommates until the older children brought in the authorities, in the form of parents, to conciliate. Oddur Thorisson, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 June 2018 Attorney General Jeff Sessions has proclaimed the end of Obama-era reforms which conciliated between civil-rights activists and police to yield a wave of law-enforcement reforms. Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, 24 May 2018 There are no complexities, no ambiguities, no conflicting views to consider or conciliate. Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, 8 May 2018 See More Word History
Etymology
Latin conciliatus, past participle of conciliare to assemble, unite, win over, from concilium assembly, council — more at council
First Known Use
1545, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2
Kids Definition
conciliate
verb
con·cil·i·ate kən-ˈsi-lē-ˌāt
conciliated; conciliating
1
: to bring into agreement : reconcile
It's hard to conciliate the stories of what happened.
2
: to gain or regain the goodwill or favor of
She apologized to conciliate an angry friend.
conciliating 1 of 2
adjective
as in conciliatory
tending to lessen or avoid conflict or hostility small conciliating acts designed to win the trust of the new neighbors Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- conciliatory
- appeasing
- mollifying
- placating
- pacifying
- quieting
- peacemaking
- benevolent
- soothing
- placatory
- disarming
- pacific
- comforting
- calming
- peaceful
- ingratiating
- kind
- propitiatory
- obliging
- gentle
- peaceable
- relaxing
- satisfying
- kindly
- winning
- amiable
- endearing
- tranquillizing
- unassertive
- nonbelligerent
- unaggressive
- passive
- tranquilizing
- agreeable
- winsome
- lulling
- amicable
- surrendering
- yielding
- affable
- submissive
- good-natured
- good-tempered
- genial
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- provoking
- aggravating
- exasperating
- inflammatory
- hostile
- antagonizing
- irritating
- engaging
- provocative
- vexing
- irksome
- offensive
- annoying
- abrasive
- antagonistic
- frustrating
- nettling
- inimical
- nagging
- maddening
- antipathetic
- infuriating
- galling
- riling
- belligerent
- combative
- rankling
- confrontational
- unfriendly
- assertive
- nettlesome
- aggressive
- maddening
- pugnacious
- inhospitable
- warlike
- quarrelsome
- bellicose
- truculent
- unsympathetic
- military
- argumentative
- contentious
- chafing
- agonistic
- incensing
- militant
- militaristic
- martial
- scrappy
conciliating
2 of 2verb
1
as in reconciling
to bring to a state free of conflicts, inconsistencies, or differences it will be hard to conciliate the views of labor and management regarding health benefits Synonyms & Similar Words
- reconciling
- coordinating
- integrating
- harmonizing
- accommodating
- aligning
- combining
- adapting
- attuning
- conforming
- suiting
- balancing
- merging
- keying
- connecting
- matching
- unifying
- uniting
- pairing
- tuning
- blending
- correlating
- synchronizing
- synthesizing
- equalizing
- orchestrating
- standardizing
- fusing
- proportioning
- alining
- regularizing
- squaring
- joining
- arranging
- fitting
- dovetailing
- arraying
- evening
- ordering
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- disorganizing
- disrupting
- upsetting
- alienating
- estranging
- disturbing
- confusing
- disordering
- disharmonizing
- skewing
- disarraying
2
as in appeasing
to lessen the anger or agitation of a principal trying to conciliate the parents who did not receive their tickets to the graduation ceremonies Synonyms & Similar Words
- appeasing
- placating
- propitiating
- comforting
- mollifying
- pacifying
- consoling
- soothing
- pleasing
- calming
- disarming
- assuaging
- contenting
- ingratiating
- satisfying
- gentling
- quieting
- delighting
- coaxing
- gratifying
- tranquilizing
- flattering
- tranquillizing
- humoring
- cajoling
- wheedling
- hushing
- gladdening
- adulating
- indulging
- quenching
- satiating
- pampering
- spoiling
- coddling
- sating
- mollycoddling
- sweetening
- overpraising
- babying
- sweet-talking
- blandishing
- endearing (to)
- blarneying
- soft-soaping
- dulcifying
- catering (to)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- inflaming
- antagonizing
- angering
- outraging
- nettling
- aggravating
- provoking
- infuriating
- crossing
- enraging
- riling
- getting
- exasperating
- incensing
- bothering
- iring
- irritating
- rankling
- maddening
- ruffling
- vexing
- annoying
- grating
- enflaming
- persecuting
- burning (up)
- irking
- harassing
- rousing
- piquing
- bugging
- galling
- chafing
- harrying
- roiling
- agitating
- pestering
- putting out
- insulting
- upsetting
- distressing
- affronting
- perturbing
- disturbing
- worrying
- slighting
- offending
- unsettling
- discomforting
- fretting
- peeving
- unhinging
- summariness
- summarinesses
- summarisation
- summarisations
- summarise
- summarised
- summariser
- summarisers
- summarises
- summarising
- summarist
- summarists
- summarizable
- summarization
- summarizations
- summarize
- summarized
- summarizer
- summarizers
- summarizes
- summarizing
- summary
- summary court
- summary judgment
- summary jurisdiction