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appease

[uh-peez]
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verb (used with object), ap·peased, ap·peas·ing.
  1. to bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; pacify; soothe: to appease an angry king.
  2. to satisfy, allay, or relieve; assuage: The fruit appeased his hunger.
  3. to yield or concede to the belligerent demands of (a nation, group, person, etc.) in a conciliatory effort, sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles.

Origin of appease

1300–50; Middle English apesen < Anglo-French apeser, Old French apais(i)er, equivalent to a- a-5 + paisi- peace + -er infinitive suffix
Related formsap·peas·a·ble, adjectiveap·peas·a·ble·ness, nounap·peas·a·bly, adverbap·pease·ment, nounap·peas·er, nounap·peas·ing·ly, adverbnon·ap·peas·a·ble, adjectivenon·ap·peas·ing, adjectiveun·ap·peas·a·ble, adjectiveun·ap·peas·a·bly, adverbun·ap·peased, adjectiveun·ap·peas·ing, adjectiveun·ap·peas·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms

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1. calm, placate.

Synonym study

3. Appease, conciliate, propitiate imply trying to preserve or obtain peace. To appease is to make anxious overtures and often undue concessions to satisfy the demands of someone with a greed for power, territory, etc.: Chamberlain tried to appease Hitler at Munich. To conciliate is to win an enemy or opponent over by displaying a willingness to be just and fair: When mutual grievances are recognized, conciliation is possible. To propitiate is to admit a fault, and, by trying to make amends, to allay hostile feeling: to propitiate an offended neighbor.

Antonyms

1. enrage. 2. increase, arouse, sharpen. 3. defy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

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British Dictionary definitions for appeaser

appease

verb (tr)
  1. to calm, pacify, or soothe, esp by acceding to the demands of
  2. to satisfy or quell (an appetite or thirst, etc)
Derived Formsappeasable, adjectiveappeaser, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Old French apaisier, from pais peace, from Latin pax
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

Word Origin and History for appeaser

n.

mid-15c., agent noun from appease (v.). Political sense attested from 1940.

appease

v.

c.1300 "to reconcile," from Anglo-French apeser, Old French apaisier "to pacify, make peace, appease, be reconciled, placate" (12c.), from the phrase a paisier "bring to peace," from a "to" (see ad-) + pais, from Latin pacem (nominative pax) "peace" (see peace). Related: Appeased; appeasing.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper