appease
Americanverb (used with object)
-
appeases,
present (3rd person singular)
-
appeased,
past participle, past
-
appeasing
present participle
-
to bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; pacify; soothe.
to appease an angry king.
- Antonyms:
- enrage
-
to satisfy, allay, or relieve; assuage.
The fruit appeased his hunger.
-
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
-
to calm, pacify, or soothe, esp by acceding to the demands of
-
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
-
appeasablenessnoun
-
appeasementnoun
-
appeasernoun
-
appeasableadjective
-
nonappeasableadjective
-
nonappeasingadjective
-
unappeasableadjective
-
unappeasedadjective
-
unappeasingadjective
-
appeasablyadverb
-
appeasinglyadverb
-
unappeasablyadverb
-
unappeasinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
appeasesimple
-
appeasessimple
-
have appeasedperfect
-
has appeasedperfect
-
am appeasingprogressive
-
are appeasingprogressive
-
is appeasingprogressive
-
have been appeasingperfect progressive
-
has been appeasingperfect progressive
Past
-
appeasedsimple
-
had appeasedperfect
-
was appeasingprogressive
-
were appeasingprogressive
-
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
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Advanced English Words
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
List 7
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
OpenAI in June voluntarily limited access to its GPT-5.6 family of new models — Sol, Terra and Luna — to “trusted partners” in an effort to appease the government.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
STV and regulator Ofcom agreed a modified scheme but this did little to appease the Scottish government, unions, and critics including local business groups.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Year after year we endured a mishmash roster with his hand-picked players, just to appease LeBron.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
Salesforce’s $3.6 billion acquisition of an AI agent company did not appease investors, despite positive analyst views.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
But the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy held jurisdiction over AEC appointments, and to appease its Democratic majority, Eisenhower named two former Truman aides, John S. Graham and John F. Floberg, to the open seats.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
"Having a clear goal, something that you can actually realise, is something that we don't necessarily have in everyday life, and that appeases our brain," says Dr Christensen.
From BBC ● Dec. 25, 2024
“We just have to find a sweet spot right in the middle that appeases the majority.”
From Washington Times ● Sep. 28, 2022
The show appeases an audience that yearns for repeat acts of closure, or comforting examples of approximate justice.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 9, 2022
Those countries are going to have a tough time pulling off a plan that appeases Iran.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2019
I look between them, hoping that my solution appeases both of them.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
While the funding plan removed what Deutsche Bank’s Brad Zelnick called the “monkey off the back” for Oracle, it hasn’t appeased skeptical investors.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 5, 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
“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.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025
South Korea thought it had appeased its powerful friend.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2025
I guess I could have appeased them by simply staying away from white tennis players, but that I was not prepared to do.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Finding the perfect position appeasing those on either side of an issue is exhausting work and prone to error.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026
He also pledged a break from the Petro policy of appeasing criminal gangs, vowing to build mega prisons to get their recruits off the streets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 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
For many fans, the Finnish heavyweight is an underwhelming choice, but appeasing boxing fans was not necessarily the priority.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2023
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.
