appease
Americanverb (used with object)
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appeases,
present (3rd person singular)
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appeased,
past participle, past
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appeasing
present participle
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to bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; pacify; soothe.
to appease an angry king.
- Antonyms:
- enrage
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to satisfy, allay, or relieve; assuage.
The fruit appeased his hunger.
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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
verb
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to calm, pacify, or soothe, esp by acceding to the demands of
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to satisfy or quell (an appetite or thirst, etc)
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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appeasablenessnoun
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appeasementnoun
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appeasernoun
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appeasableadjective
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nonappeasableadjective
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nonappeasingadjective
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unappeasableadjective
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unappeasedadjective
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unappeasingadjective
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appeasablyadverb
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appeasinglyadverb
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unappeasablyadverb
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unappeasinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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appeasesimple
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appeasessimple
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have appeasedperfect
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has appeasedperfect
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am appeasingprogressive
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are appeasingprogressive
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is appeasingprogressive
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have been appeasingperfect progressive
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has been appeasingperfect progressive
Past
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appeasedsimple
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had appeasedperfect
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was appeasingprogressive
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were appeasingprogressive
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had been appeasingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of appease
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English apesen, from Anglo-French apeser, Old French apais(i)er; equivalent to a- 5 + peace
Explanation
Appease means to make or preserve peace with a nation, group, or person by giving in to their demands, or to relieve a problem, as in "the cold drink appeased his thirst." Appease often implies abandoning your moral principles to satisfy the demands of someone who is greedy for power: think of British Prime Minister Chamberlain's attempt to appease the Nazis at Munich. The verb appease comes from the Old French apaisier, "to pacify, make peace, or be reconciled," from the phrase "a paisier," which combines a-, or "to," and pais, "peace," from the Latin pax.
Vocabulary lists containing appease
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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:
Whatever the assignment was supposed to accomplish, it did not appease the man it was designed to flatter.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2026
But Parton refused to distance herself from Fonda just to appease her more conservative fans.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Or he might be trying to appease Mr. Kim at a moment when U.S. weapons stocks and deployments are stretched.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
And I will say that this is the challenge for productions, when you’re trying to appease everyone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
The first resolution was designed to appease the Deep South by confirming that the Constitution prohibited any federal legislation limiting or ending the slave trade until 1808.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
She appeases me by telling me I will be the first person to know when it's finished.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2025
HBO’s drama expands a beloved video game into a series that appeases longtime fans and appeals to new viewers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2023
An awkward locution, but it appeases the sensitivity police.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 8, 2023
But he also made clear that he does not want an early election, something that will be hard to avoid unless he appeases Mr. Ziobro and fellow Euroskeptics.
From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 2021
I look between them, hoping that my solution appeases both of them.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Beyond Meat appeased Nasdaq regulators this past week by finally filing its 2025 annual report, but there’s still another matter the onetime alternative-protein darling has to deal with to keep its stock from being delisted.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 12, 2026
Los Blancos were in charge but despite taking the lead, their fans were not appeased, and whistled the team in at the break.
From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026
In January 2022, on the eve of the full-scale assault, he warned that Russia was not a Great Power and should not be appeased.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
South Korea thought it had appeased its powerful friend.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2025
At Troy he rescued a maiden who was in the same plight as Andromeda, waiting on the shore to be devoured by a sea monster which could be appeased in no other way.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
This week underscored the challenge the New York City mayor faces in hewing to those deeply held beliefs and appeasing his political base while governing the nation’s largest city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Finding the perfect position appeasing those on either side of an issue is exhausting work and prone to error.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026
McDonald’s and Oracle are among the growing list of clients choosing to part ways with the appeasing firms.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2025
Daalder was alluding to Britain’s early World War II prime minister who was widely criticized for appeasing Hitler as the German fuhrer marched across Europe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2025
Most of them, especially those who came to the principality as new men, when they recognized the difficulty resulting from the two opposing humours, turned to appeasing the soldiers, caring little about injuring the people.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
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.
