appease

English

Etymology

From Middle English apesen, from Old French apeser (“to pacify, bring to peace”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /əˈpiːz/
  • Rhymes: -iːz

Verb

appease (third-person singular simple present appeases, present participle appeasing, simple past and past participle appeased)

  1. To make quiet; to calm; to reduce to a state of peace; to dispel (anger or hatred).
    Synonyms: calm, pacify, placate, quell, quiet, still, lull
    to appease the tumult of the ocean
    • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula Chapter 21
      `First, a little refreshment to reward my exertions. You may as well be quiet. It is not the first time, or the second, that your veins have appeased my thirst!'
  2. To come to terms with; to adapt to the demands of.
    Synonyms: mollify, propitiate
    They appeased the angry gods with burnt offerings.

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

  • appease in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • appease in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

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