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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, -trɪ, ˌrɛkənˌsɪlɪˈeɪʃən, ˌrɛkənˈsɪlɪətərɪ /

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

“The movie was about a family going through a crisis, about this kid trying to find trying to find his community and trying to reconcile with his family,” Kirk said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Beneath the flags, opposition lawmaker Patricia Stephenson told AFP the government's position was increasingly difficult to reconcile.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

Sitting judges arguably have the best informed perspective on this Supreme Court: They must apply its jurisprudence, reconcile its contradictions, and confront the real-world effects of its rulings.

From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026

“She has helped me quite a bit reconcile letting go of what I thought my career trajectory was going to be and embracing a new one,” Hodge said.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

It was hard to reconcile their voice with their words.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

Remembering this time they shared, Travolta works through the memories of his mother, and reconciles the good with the not-so-great.

From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026

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

From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2026

With key data blacked out by the government shutdown, officials lacked the usual information that often reconciles differences.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 22, 2025

Another early highlight, Reliquia, chops and splices a chamber quartet into unrecognisable electronic patterns, as Rosalía reconciles herself to the idea that she loves too hard, and locates the beauty in that vulnerability.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025

In religious life, in short, he finds the principle which reconciles the opposition of the temporal mind.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" by Various

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

There is no such provision in the corresponding Senate bill, which will have to be reconciled with the House bill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026

Dwayne Johnson’s performance in “The Smashing Machine,” for all the film’s flaws, cleverly reconciled the dissonance between the outward images of masculine power and internal feelings of self-loathing.

From Salon ● May 27, 2026

But something began to happen, the more she tormented her father—a different kind of division within her, and one not so easily reconciled at night’s end.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

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

“When heirs cannot reach a unanimous decision, the executor’s role becomes pivotal. Executors are tasked with reconciling conflicts,” Hancock Whitney adds.

From MarketWatch ● May 21, 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 had trouble reconciling the definition of the word with the fact that we'd been living in the Bay Area for ten years.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

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