appease

[uh-peez]

verb (used with object)

appeased, appeasing 

1. to bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; pacify; soothe.

   to appease an angry king.

   Synonyms: placate, calm
   Antonyms: enrage

2. to satisfy, allay, or relieve; assuage.

   The fruit appeased his hunger.

   Antonyms: sharpen, arouse, increase

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.

   Antonyms: defy

appease

/ əˈpiːz /

verb

1. to calm, pacify, or soothe, esp by acceding to the demands of

2. to satisfy or quell (an appetite or thirst, etc)

Other Word Forms

• appeasable adjective
• appeasableness noun
• appeasably adverb
• appeasement noun
• appeaser noun
• appeasingly adverb
• nonappeasable adjective
• nonappeasing adjective
• unappeasable adjective
• unappeasably adverb
• unappeased adjective
• unappeasing adjective
• unappeasingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of appease¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English apesen, from Anglo-French apeser, Old French apais(i)er; equivalent to a- ⁵ + peace

Word History and Origins

Origin of appease¹

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

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

An attempt by aviation industry body Iata to defuse the situation - by stressing that its member airlines were keen to restore operations - failed to appease the Venezuelan government.

Read more on BBC

Faculty are then pressured to appease students rather than uphold standards.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“It’s gotta be warm and almost womblike in a way that you feel very appeased as soon as you walk in, and then you bring your guard down,” says Bole, a native of France.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It sent a message the opposite of: Let’s appease Russia to avoid World War III.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This is a new version of the age-old income redistribution game of taxing people too much but then trying to appease them with tax credits or one-time cash payments.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• allay 
• alleviate 
• assuage 
• blunt 
• calm 
• lessen 
• mitigate 
• mollify 
• placate 
• quell 
• soften 
• soothe