reconcile
Americanverb (used with object)
-
reconciles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
reconciled,
past participle, past
-
reconciling
present participle
-
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)
-
reconciles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
reconciled,
past participle, past
-
reconciling
present participle
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)
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
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prereconcilementnoun
-
reconcilementnoun
-
reconcilernoun
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reconciliationnoun
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prereconcileverb (used with object)
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quasi-reconciledadjective
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reconciliatoryadjective
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unreconciledadjective
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unreconcilingadjective
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reconcilinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
reconcilesimple
-
reconcilessimple
-
have reconciledperfect
-
has reconciledperfect
-
am reconcilingprogressive
-
are reconcilingprogressive
-
is reconcilingprogressive
-
have been reconcilingperfect progressive
-
has been reconcilingperfect progressive
Past
-
reconciledsimple
-
had reconciledperfect
-
was reconcilingprogressive
-
were reconcilingprogressive
-
had been reconcilingperfect progressive
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!
Vocabulary lists containing reconcile
Animal Farm
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Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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"The Hill We Climb," by Amanda Gorman
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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:
"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
His young Americans are struggling to reconcile their dreams and ideals with some hard realities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
How should I reconcile the value of that work with everything you’ve described?
From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2026
My one-second mistake would cause the North and South to never fully reconcile in the aftermath of the Civil War.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
There is nothing that reconciles those two decisions through any logic or law.
From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2026
Until this hypothetical key to the mysteries puts a bow on string theory and reconciles quantum and classical mechanics, don’t bother.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 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
And it is odd how it reconciles you to it all.
From Pencillings by the Way Written During Some Years of Residence and Travel in Europe by N. Parker Willis
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
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
Graham reconciled their relationship and backed his re-election bid.
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
On the semicentennial Fourth of July, having reconciled, both men die.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
She seems somehow more reconciled; or else the very subject seems to have become repugnant to her, for when any accidental allusion is made she actually shudders.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
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
The challenge of reconciling the dilemma was even more formidable than the Protestant ideal of literacy that expected converts to read the Bible and sing out of the Psalter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
His supporters credit him with reconciling the country reviving Tajik culture after the civil war and decades of Soviet rule.
From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026
For it is only by reconciling contradictions that power can be retained indefinitely.
From "1984" by George Orwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
