propitiate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Usage
What does propitiate mean? Propitiate means to gain the favor of or make things right with someone, especially after having done something wrong. The noun form of propitiate is propitiation. Close synonyms of propitiate are conciliate and appease. Propitiate is commonly used in a religious context. It’s especially used in Christianity to refer to the act of propitiation that Christians believe Jesus made to atone for sin—or to the atonement that Christians believe they should make to God. Example: To gain redemption, we must do our best to propitiate—to earn the favor we have lost.
Related Words
See appease.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of propitiate
1635–45; < Latin propitiātus, past participle of propitiāre to appease. See propitious, -ate 1
Explanation
If you forgot flowers on your grandma's birthday, you can still propitiate her by sending a bouquet the next day. Propitiate means to appease someone or make them happy by doing a particular thing. Handy strategy for lovers, too. One of the most common uses of propitiate historically was in the sense of appeasing the gods, often with a gift in the form of an animal or human sacrifice. Fortunately, for most people today flowers and candy will do the trick. But then again, some Moms can be tough to appease.
Vocabulary lists containing propitiate
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"The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving
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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.
Wipe off the past, as a forgotten thing, Propitiate virtue, by forsaking vice.
From Man of Uz, and Other Poems by Sigourney, Lydia Howard
Propitiate then these holy powers, whose grove Received thee when first treading this their ground.
From The Seven Plays in English Verse by Sophocles
This latest leisure equal lulls The beggar and his queen; Propitiate this democrat By summer's gracious mien.
From Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete by Dickinson, Emily
Propitiate, prō-pish′i-āt, v.t. to make propitious: to render favourable.—v.i. to make propitiation: to atone.—adj.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
This latest leisure equal lulls The beggar and his queen; Propitiate this democrat By summer's gracious mien.
From Poems by Emily Dickinson, Third Series by Todd, Mabel Loomis
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.
