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

It will be interesting to see how they reconcile these positions with fiscal priorities.

From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026

My wife and I are trying to reconcile the financial advice we receive from our advisory team, which is often conservative, with the retirement lifestyle we envision and believe we can comfortably afford.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026

The president tries to reconcile restrainers and hawks with his strategic goals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

He is struggling to reconcile the man who he believes killed his sister with the man he has known and loved for nearly 40 years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

Perhaps I might have been able to reconcile myself even to this if I had been able to believe that there was any loving-kindness to be found in the haven I represented.

From "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin

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

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

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

Nevertheless, the story of the Fall of Man, of which that theology, in its fundamentally true part, is a reasoned expression, is the one thing, Schopenhauer avows, that reconciles him to the Old Testament.

From Schopenhauer by Thomas Whittaker

Although the Anthonys reconciled in late 2018, they ultimately called it quits in July 2019, according to People.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

Students in Milan and Marseille and Mumbai may well return to school and be reconciled to their lives, at least for now.

From Salon ● Oct. 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

Last week, another emotional documentary chronicling the tour - and featuring the reconciled brothers' first joint interview since their acrimonious split in 2009 - was released in UK cinemas, following its premiere in Venice.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

Nevertheless, the sight of Napoleon, on all fours, delivering orders to Whymper, who stood on two legs, roused their pride and partly reconciled them to the new arrangement.

From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell

As in the Gilded Age, winning the presidency requires reconciling competing factions, as McKinley, Roosevelt and Wilson discovered.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026

The researchers had already published work aimed at reconciling argon-argon dating with uranium-lead dating, the two methods most widely used to determine the ages of rocks.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

"The little things that used to annoy us about each other have all gone away," says Noel Gallagher of reconciling with his brother, Liam.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

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

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

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