appease
verb
ap·pease ə-ˈpēz 
appeased; appeasing
transitive verb
1
: pacify, conciliate
especially : to make concessions to (someone, such as an aggressor or a critic) often at the sacrifice of principles
appeased the dictator by accepting his demands
Placaters, who try hard to appease others so as to keep the peace, fear getting hurt in some way. 
Mike Cote
Mike Cote 2
: to cause to subside : allay
appeased my hunger
trying to appease her guilty conscience
3
: to bring to a state of peace or quiet : calm
appease a quarrel
appeasable
ə-ˈpē-zə-bəl
adjective appeaser noun
Synonyms
- assuage
- conciliate
- disarm
- gentle
- mollify
- pacify
- placate
- propitiate
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
But I imagine he and his siblings, who profited handsomely from the sale, have mixed emotions. They may be sad they had to sell, yet relieved that they are no longer under pressure to appease Wall Street's demand for growth and profits. James Laube, Wine Spectator, 31 Mar. 2005 The first is that, in affluent America, mothering has gone from an art to a cult, with devotees driving themselves to ever more baroque extremes to appease the goddess of perfect motherhood. Judith Shulevitz, New York Times Book Review, 20 Feb. 2005 It was last summer, and Gingell, then Sun Microsystems's chief software engineer, had an excuse: His twin-engine Cessna had broken down, and he'd lost track of time while he gabbed on the phone with his mechanic. That wasn't likely to appease Sun's famously tart-tongued CEO, Scott McNealy, who was getting his introductory briefing on a vital new technology initiative that happened to be Gingell's brainchild. Erick Schonfeld, Business 2.0, September 2002 The California legislature's solution to this seemingly intractable problem was a politically appealing package with features to appease both utility investors and ratepayers. Benjamin A. Holden, Wall Street Journal, 19 Feb. 1997 They appeased the dictator by accepting his demands in an effort to avoid war. His critics were not appeased by this last speech. They made sacrifices to appease the gods. We had no way to appease our hunger. See More
James Laube, Wine Spectator, 31 Mar. 2005 The first is that, in affluent America, mothering has gone from an art to a cult, with devotees driving themselves to ever more baroque extremes to appease the goddess of perfect motherhood. Judith Shulevitz, New York Times Book Review, 20 Feb. 2005 It was last summer, and Gingell, then Sun Microsystems's chief software engineer, had an excuse: His twin-engine Cessna had broken down, and he'd lost track of time while he gabbed on the phone with his mechanic. That wasn't likely to appease Sun's famously tart-tongued CEO, Scott McNealy, who was getting his introductory briefing on a vital new technology initiative that happened to be Gingell's brainchild. Erick Schonfeld, Business 2.0, September 2002 The California legislature's solution to this seemingly intractable problem was a politically appealing package with features to appease both utility investors and ratepayers. Benjamin A. Holden, Wall Street Journal, 19 Feb. 1997 They appeased the dictator by accepting his demands in an effort to avoid war. His critics were not appeased by this last speech. They made sacrifices to appease the gods. We had no way to appease our hunger. See More Recent Examples on the Web In the past, major movie studios such as Disney, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Paramount and Universal Pictures have drawn criticism for allegedly censoring their movies for Chinese audiences to appease the government in Beijing. Christi Carras, Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2022 The girls possess an inevitable self-consciousness when standing in front of a ring light and making a TikTok, trying to appease the social-media gods. Jessie Zinn, The New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2022 In a delicate dance that seems designed to appease both the right and left, Macron has refused to vilify French imperialists, most notably Napoleon, but has recognized their wrongdoing. Saphora Smith, NBC News, 25 Dec. 2021 The bill also has some negatives from a climate perspective, like its new offshore oil leases, presumably added to appease Sen. Manchin, whose vote was crucial to the legislation’s passage. Adam Sobel, CNN, 12 Aug. 2022 In June, The Information reported that Meta would stop making Portals for consumers and start pushing them as business tech as part of a hardware strategy restructuring to appease investors. Scharon Harding, Ars Technica, 11 Aug. 2022 Provisions for new oil and gas leases are the obvious doozy, slotted in to appease Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia). Wired, 10 Aug. 2022 Last year, Vos sought to appease those who wanted to decertify the 2020 presidential election results by hiring Gableman to lead a Republican election investigation, a probe that has cost $1 million. Daniel Bice, Journal Sentinel, 10 Aug. 2022 That said, the contentious recruitment appears to have been suspended with an investigation launched to appease Nigeria, an outcome that shows the unshaken power of the region’s largest economy within its strongest sphere of influence. Alexander Onukwue, Quartz, 8 Aug. 2022 See More
Christi Carras, Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2022 The girls possess an inevitable self-consciousness when standing in front of a ring light and making a TikTok, trying to appease the social-media gods. Jessie Zinn, The New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2022 In a delicate dance that seems designed to appease both the right and left, Macron has refused to vilify French imperialists, most notably Napoleon, but has recognized their wrongdoing. Saphora Smith, NBC News, 25 Dec. 2021 The bill also has some negatives from a climate perspective, like its new offshore oil leases, presumably added to appease Sen. Manchin, whose vote was crucial to the legislation’s passage. Adam Sobel, CNN, 12 Aug. 2022 In June, The Information reported that Meta would stop making Portals for consumers and start pushing them as business tech as part of a hardware strategy restructuring to appease investors. Scharon Harding, Ars Technica, 11 Aug. 2022 Provisions for new oil and gas leases are the obvious doozy, slotted in to appease Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia). Wired, 10 Aug. 2022 Last year, Vos sought to appease those who wanted to decertify the 2020 presidential election results by hiring Gableman to lead a Republican election investigation, a probe that has cost $1 million. Daniel Bice, Journal Sentinel, 10 Aug. 2022 That said, the contentious recruitment appears to have been suspended with an investigation launched to appease Nigeria, an outcome that shows the unshaken power of the region’s largest economy within its strongest sphere of influence. Alexander Onukwue, Quartz, 8 Aug. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English appesen, from Anglo-French apeser, apaiser, from a- (from Latin ad-) + pais peace — more at peace
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3
Kids Definition
appease
verb
ap·pease ə-ˈpēz
appeased; appeasing
1
: to make calm or quiet
appease their anger
2
: to make less severe
appeased his hunger
appease
verb
as in to placate
to lessen the anger or agitation of a game often appeases an upset toddler Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- placate
- comfort
- mollify
- pacify
- soothe
- propitiate
- please
- calm
- assuage
- conciliate
- satisfy
- console
- disarm
- delight
- gentle
- ingratiate
- quiet
- satiate
- gratify
- content
- tranquilize
- coax
- sate
- indulge
- cajole
- gladden
- tranquillize
- flatter
- quench
- spoil
- hush
- humor
- adulate
- baby
- wheedle
- pamper
- coddle
- overpraise
- sweeten
- blandish
- mollycoddle
- blarney
- endear (to)
- sweet-talk
- cater (to)
- dulcify
- soft-soap
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- infuriate
- anger
- inflame
- annoy
- get
- antagonize
- enrage
- irritate
- outrage
- bother
- aggravate
- provoke
- rile
- rouse
- irk
- rankle
- ire
- pique
- cross
- vex
- burn (up)
- exasperate
- enflame
- harass
- put out
- roil
- bug
- ruffle
- chafe
- grate
- gall
- madden
- persecute
- pester
- disturb
- offend
- upset
- agitate
- incense
- worry
- unsettle
- distress
- discomfort
- perturb
- harry
- insult
- slight
- fret
- affront
- peeve
- nettle
- unhinge
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of appease are conciliate, mollify, pacify, placate, and propitiate. While all these words mean "to ease the anger or disturbance of," appease implies quieting insistent demands by making concessions.
appease their territorial ambitions
The meanings of conciliate and appease largely overlap; however, conciliate suggests ending an estrangement by persuasion, concession, or settling of differences.
conciliating the belligerent nations
The synonyms mollify and appease are sometimes interchangeable, but mollify implies soothing hurt feelings or rising anger.
a speech that mollified the demonstrators
The words pacify and appease can be used in similar contexts, but pacify suggests a soothing or calming.
pacified by a sincere apology
While in some cases nearly identical to appease, placate suggests changing resentment or bitterness to goodwill.
a move to placate local opposition
The words propitiate and appease are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, propitiate implies averting anger or malevolence especially of a superior being.
propitiated his parents by dressing up
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