conciliatory

[kuh n-sil-ee-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR conciliatory ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

tending to conciliate: a conciliatory manner; conciliatory comments.

Nearby words

Also con·cil·i·a·tive

[kuh n-sil-ee-ey-tiv, -uh-tiv, -sil-yuh-] /kənˈsɪl iˌeɪ tɪv, -ə tɪv, -ˈsɪl yə-/.

Origin of conciliatory

First recorded in 1570–80; conciliate + -ory¹

Related forms

con·cil·i·a·to·ri·ly, adverbcon·cil·i·a·to·ri·ness, nounnon·con·cil·i·a·to·ry, adjectiveun·con·cil·i·a·tive, adjective

un·con·cil·i·a·to·ry, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for conciliatory

Barack Obama, running as a conciliatory pragmatist in 2008, did even better with some 50 percent.
The Progressives’ War on Suburbia|Joel Kotkin|November 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Their relationships with each other range from conciliatory to borderline antagonistic.
Welcome to Assadville, USA|Christopher Moraff|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Zawahiri was conciliatory but stern, commanding ISIS to leave Syria and go back to Iraq, where the group was founded.
Welcome to Jihad City, Syria|Jacob Siegel|May 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Vastly outnumbered by halfwits and fellow travellers, I reached for the most conciliatory point available.
No Mas Democracia|Michael Moynihan|February 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST

I think there is no interest in finding a central and conciliatory way forward.
Standoff in Taksim|Mike Giglio|June 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
At first Wall's answers were conciliatory, but naval preparations still went on.
The Political History of England - Vol. X.|William Hunt
Lady Arabella had hardly expected that the doctor would reply to her mild and conciliatory exordium with so much sternness.
Doctor Thorne|Anthony Trollope
He was now as bitter of speech as he had formerly been conciliatory.
The Shadow of a Crime|Hall Caine
The policy of successive captains-general was alternately uncompromisingly repressive and conciliatory.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7|Various
This conciliatory language was accompanied by the most serious demonstrations of force upon the shores of the Channel.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XXVI, July 1852, Vol. V|Various

British Dictionary definitions for conciliatory

conciliatory

conciliative (kənˈsɪljətɪv)

adjective

intended to placate or reconcile

Derived Formsconciliatorily, adverbconciliatoriness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for conciliatory

conciliatory

adj.

1570s, from conciliate + -ory. Related: Conciliator.

conciliatory

adjective

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Nearby words

Origin of conciliatory

Examples from the Web for conciliatory

conciliatory

conciliative (kənˈsɪljətɪv)

adjective

conciliatory