conciliate
Americanverb (used with object)
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conciliates,
present (3rd person singular)
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conciliated,
past participle, past
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conciliating
present participle
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to overcome the distrust or hostility of; placate; win over.
to conciliate an angry competitor.
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to win or gain (goodwill, regard, or favor).
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to make compatible; reconcile.
verb (used without object)
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conciliates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
conciliated,
past participle, past
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conciliating
present participle
verb
-
to overcome the hostility of; placate; win over
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to win or gain (favour, regard, etc), esp by making friendly overtures
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archaic to make compatible; reconcile
Synonym Usage
See appease.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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conciliationnoun
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conciliatornoun
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conciliableadjective
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nonconciliatingadjective
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proconciliationadjective
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unconciliableadjective
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unconciliatedadjective
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unconciliatingadjective
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conciliatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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conciliatesimple
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conciliatessimple
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have conciliatedperfect
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has conciliatedperfect
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am conciliatingprogressive
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are conciliatingprogressive
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is conciliatingprogressive
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have been conciliatingperfect progressive
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has been conciliatingperfect progressive
Past
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conciliatedsimple
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had conciliatedperfect
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was conciliatingprogressive
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were conciliatingprogressive
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had been conciliatingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing conciliate
Lee Surrenders to Grant (1865)
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Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address (1801)
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Oliver Twist
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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:
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
The purpose of politics — or, at any rate, one purpose — is to conciliate and to cooperate.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 11, 2018
To conciliate Federalists who still resented the recent war, Monroe toured New England shortly after his inauguration and attracted widespread popular applause.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 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
He conciliates them all by nominating a ticket on which the offices are shrewdly distributed; and out of the Babel his “slate” gets the majority.
From Races and Immigrants in America by John R. (John Rogers) Commons
His activity touches all the interests of the community, and is tolerated only in so far as it conciliates them.
From The Moral Economy by Ralph Barton Perry
He had all the air of a roué, yet even roués have often a savor of jolly recklessness about them, which conciliates.
From The Living Link by James De Mille
For nothing inspires love, nothing conciliates affection, like virtue.
From Treatises on Friendship and Old Age by Evelyn Shirley Shuckburgh
At any rate it promotes happiness, and conciliates good-will, and these will offset an occasional deception.
From Ben, the Luggage Boy; or, Among the Wharves by Horatio Alger
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
The Irish policy of the ministry had not conciliated the Irish people, and O’Connell denounced them with the greatest bitterness.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" 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
Until then he had seemed fully aware of his delicate role as a possible successor who would be called upon to play a healing and conciliating role if Nixon left office.
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
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.
