appeasement
Britishnoun
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the policy of acceding to the demands of a potentially hostile nation in the hope of maintaining peace
-
the act of appeasing
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A classic example of appeasement is the Munich Pact of 1938, negotiated between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler. Chamberlain, the prime minister of Britain, allowed Hitler to annex part of Czechoslovakia to Germany.
Explanation
Appeasement is the act of calming something down. A candy bar might give your hunger temporary appeasement, but eventually you'll need a real meal. The noun appeasement comes from the verb appease, which itself comes from the French words a ("to") and pais ("peace"). We wouldn't use appeasement to talk about deep inner calm, but rather satisfying demands, or bringing a turbulent situation back to calm, and in a way that often meets with disapproval. The ransom of $50,000, for instance, is an appeasement for the kidnappers.
Vocabulary lists containing appeasement
A Thousand Splendid Suns
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World War II
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Franklin Roosevelt, "Four Freedoms" (1941)
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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.
"Appeasement cannot bring peace, and compromise cannot earn one respect," a Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said.
From BBC • Apr. 20, 2025
Appeasement is often a vital survival strategy for those who face oppression in a dynamic wherein they are powerless.
From Salon • Jul. 14, 2021
Appeasement is never a good look, even if it is cloaked by apparent indifference.
From The Guardian • Dec. 16, 2019
Appeasement happens when other nations are treated as sacrificial pawns, and when the adversary is sentimentalized.
From Washington Post • Sep. 13, 2016
Appeasement came in the form of a package addressed in her handwriting.
From Success A Novel by Adams, Samuel Hopkins
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.
