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Synonyms

reconcile

American

[rek-uhn-sahyl] / ˈrɛk ənˌsaɪl /

verb (used with object)

to cause (a person) to accept or be resigned to something not desired.

He was reconciled to his fate.
to win over to friendliness; cause to become amicable.

to reconcile hostile persons.

Synonyms:

placate, propitiate, pacify
to compose or settle (a quarrel, dispute, etc.).

Antonyms:

anger
to bring into agreement or harmony; make compatible or consistent.

to reconcile differing statements;
to reconcile accounts.

Synonyms:

harmonize
to reconsecrate (a desecrated church, cemetery, etc.).
to restore (an excommunicate or penitent) to communion in a church.

verb (used without object)

to become reconciled.

reconcile British

/ ˈrɛkənˌsaɪl /

verb

to make (oneself or another) no longer opposed; cause to acquiesce in something unpleasant

she reconciled herself to poverty
to become friendly with (someone) after estrangement or to re-establish friendly relations between (two or more people)
to settle (a quarrel or difference)
to make (two apparently conflicting things) compatible or consistent with each other
to reconsecrate (a desecrated church, etc)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What does reconcile mean? Reconcile means to make amends, come to a truce, or settle a dispute. Reconcile can also mean to make things compatible or consistent with each other. This sense of the word is especially used when discussing two things that cannot be reconciled, such as two contrasting beliefs. Another sense of the word means to cause to accept a negative situation or become resigned to it, as in I am reconciled to my fate of never being able to afford my dream house. The noun form of reconcile is reconciliation, which refers to the process of reconciling. It’s also the name of a Catholic sacrament involving the confession of sin. Example: After years of not speaking to each other, the two finally sat down and reconciled.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of reconcile

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English reconcilen, from Latin reconciliāre “to make good again, repair,” equivalent to re- re- + conciliāre “to bring together” ( see conciliate)

Explanation

Reach for the verb reconcile to make different things come together or resolve a matter. If you've ever had an argument with someone and then made up, you have reconciled. Reconcile is a verb that can mean "to become resigned" like if you're reconciled to getting the bottom bunk when you wanted the top. It also means to "bring into agreement and harmony." Words like it are pacify, harmonize, and accommodate — reconcile is definitely an agreeable word!

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

reconcile reconciles reconciled reconciling

A similar tension shadows how we reconcile what Winfrey means to American culture.

From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026

As I walked out into the desert sunshine, I tried to reconcile the suffering I’d seen online with aliens performing metaphysical microsurgeries throughout my body.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

"We therefore have to reconcile modern security requirements with the need to preserve historic buildings and comply with France's heritage regulations," local mayor Théo Caviezel explains.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

The work touches on one of the biggest unsolved problems in modern physics: how to reconcile quantum mechanics with gravity.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

Then he asked me to show how the late medieval commentary had attempted to reconcile these difficulties, and I went over that, too.

From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok

Investors are waiting to hear how Fed Chair Kevin Warsh reconciles his patient approach to rate policy with his backing of the 2% target.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

There is nothing that reconciles those two decisions through any logic or law.

From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2026

More like a short story, recounting the evening from Hart’s point of view as he reconciles with the fact that his former creative partner Richard Rodgers has created a hit with Oscar Hammerstein.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2025

Meanwhile, back in Cousins, Massachusetts, Jeremiah ends up with Denise and reconciles with his dad.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2025

But habit and tradition have reconciled us to these things in their native forms, and Mr. Morris's skill reconciles us to them in his modern and composite English.

From Views and Reviews by Henry James

The question for the chancellor is whether better consumer and business spirits can be reconciled with the need for a "challenging" Budget?

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

Phobos' present-day gravity field, shape, density, spectral properties, and changing orbit must all be reconciled within a single geophysical model.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

"That includes several audits. They have now reconciled their historical data, and recently they published a revised bulletin with the historical data, incorporating the findings of the debt," she said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

The two eventually reconciled, though Feinstein stuck with members of the team that replaced Reilly and helped guide her to successive terms in the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

With four girls, Dad was reconciled to his fate of being the Last of the Gilbreths.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

The track finds mother and daughter writing to each other about their relationship, reconciling the effects Madonna’s fame had on her firstborn child.

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026

My hope for this country: An ambitious strategy towards reconciling ourselves to the planet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

He told Europe's nuclear summit that "nuclear power is key to reconciling both independence, and thus energy sovereignty, with decarbonisation, and thus carbon neutrality".

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026

Now, the two chambers will work on fine-tuning and reconciling both bills into one proposal and sending it to President Trump’s desk.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026

I suppose it’s not odd, then, that I have trouble reconciling my life to those of my friends, or at least to their lives as I perceive them to be.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023