conciliate

American  

[kuhn-sil-ee-ayt] / kənˈsɪl iˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

• conciliates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• conciliated,
  past participle,  past
• conciliating
  present participle

1. to overcome the distrust or hostility of; placate; win over.

   to conciliate an angry competitor.

2. to win or gain (goodwill, regard, or favor).

3. to make compatible; reconcile.

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verb (used without object)

• conciliates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• conciliated,
  past participle,  past
• conciliating
  present participle

1. to become agreeable or reconciled.

   Efforts to conciliate in the dispute proved fruitless.

conciliate British  

/ kənˈsɪlɪˌeɪt /

verb

1. to overcome the hostility of; placate; win over

2. to win or gain (favour, regard, etc), esp by making friendly overtures

3. archaic to make compatible; reconcile

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Synonym Usage

See appease.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• conciliation
  noun
• conciliator
  noun
• conciliable
  adjective
• nonconciliating
  adjective
• proconciliation
  adjective
• unconciliable
  adjective
• unconciliated
  adjective
• unconciliating
  adjective
• conciliatingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• conciliating
  present
• conciliated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• conciliate
  simple
• conciliates
  simple
• have conciliated
  perfect
• has conciliated
  perfect
• am conciliating
  progressive
• are conciliating
  progressive
• is conciliating
  progressive
• have been conciliating
  perfect progressive
• has been conciliating
  perfect progressive

Past

• conciliated
  simple
• had conciliated
  perfect
• was conciliating
  progressive
• were conciliating
  progressive
• had been conciliating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will conciliate
  simple
• will have conciliated
  perfect
• will be conciliating
  progressive
• will have been conciliating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of conciliate

1540–50; < Latin conciliātus (past participle of conciliāre to bring together, unite, equivalent to concili ( um ) council + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

The verb conciliate means to placate, appease, or pacify. If you are eating at a restaurant and the waiter accidentally spills a drink on you, the manager may try to conciliate you by picking up the tab for your meal. You may be more familiar with the term conciliation ––it can mean the flowers you bring to conciliate your girlfriend after a fight, or a politician's conciliatory offer to fund a new playground to a community that's just lost its school. Conciliate comes from the Latin word conciliare, meaning "to unite." Conciliare in turn comes from the Latin word concilium, meaning "council." If you remember their common etymology, you can remember that, like council, conciliate is spelled with only one l.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

conciliate conciliates conciliated conciliating

Yes, pay them beforehand, soften the blow in advance, and conciliate their good will while we still have the chance.

From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2022

He had to reward those who backed him, but many believe he also needed to conciliate those who were unhappy with his election.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2021

But both leaders have been put under rare co-ordinated international pressure to conciliate.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 21, 2019

The purpose of politics — or, at any rate, one purpose — is to conciliate and to cooperate.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 11, 2018

Lyra knew that this was a time to conciliate, and she was happy to do that, having gotten her way.

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman

We contrast with the brusque type, careless of whether he arouses anger, the tactful, which conciliates by avoiding prejudice, and which hates force and anger as unpleasant.

From The Foundations of Personality by Abraham Myerson

Catholicism, at least, is a consoling religion, and its belief in Purgatory conciliates the justice of the Almighty with His goodness.

From My Recollections of Lord Byron by Sir Hubert E. H. (Hubert Edward Henry) Jerningham

The authority which he conciliates to himself is due to nothing but his graceful manner, to his moderation, and to a round good-natured face, which is quite persuasive.

From Voltaire's Romances, Complete in One Volume by

Many think that it conciliates children and little dogs.

From The Velvet Glove by Henry Seton Merriman

This strife can cease only by means of a doctrine that conciliates all systems by comprising all the facts that give them authority.

From Lectures on the true, the beautiful and the good by Victor Cousin

I’m further conciliated by Mr. Youngkin’s representation of his state’s recent economic-development wins.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026

But of course it had its cost, in the sense that it meant he conciliated.

From Slate ● Jun. 19, 2019

If you notice P losing their cool at the prospect of not being conciliated, don’t respond to their tantrum.

From Slate ● Nov. 20, 2018

The strength of her beliefs gave her the courage to push on where others might have conciliated.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 8, 2013

Thus in 1700, so far from terrorizing the country people into submission, armies systematically conciliated them by paying cash and bringing trade into the country.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various

A French visitor — a conservationist for an NGO and a symbolic representative of the European Union — bleats a few conciliating sentiments but is scornfully shut down.

From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2023

“However one of the tasks will be conciliating Neymar’s individuality with the team and trying to contain Neymar’s petulance.”

From Washington Post ● Jun. 8, 2018

Hawke's prospects as Prime Minister now depend upon his ability to raise the money for his program, while containing inflation and conciliating his former colleagues in Australia's strike-prone unions.

From Time Magazine Archive

“This will have the best possible effect upon the men,” said Lee, and “will do much toward conciliating our people.”

From Washington Post

The chaplain rose quickly and edged away from Yossarian’s bed, and then nodded with a conciliating smile and promised to conduct himself with appropriate caution.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller