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pacify

[pas-uh-fahy]
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verb (used with object), pac·i·fied, pac·i·fy·ing.

to bring or restore to a state of peace or tranquillity; quiet; calm: to pacify an angry man.
to appease: to pacify one's appetite.
to reduce to a state of submission, especially by military force; subdue.

RELATED WORDS

mitigate, placate, assuage, repress, soothe, quell, ameliorate, mollify, allay, tame, square, subdue, dulcify, soften, stroke, grease, lull, still, propitiate, compose

Origin of pacify

1425–75; late Middle English < Latin pācificāre to make peace. See pacific, -fy
Related formspac·i·fi·a·ble, adjectivepac·i·fy·ing·ly, adverbnon·pac·i·fi·a·ble, adjectivere·pac·i·fy, verb (used with object), re·pac·i·fied, re·pac·i·fy·ing.un·pac·i·fi·a·ble, adjectiveun·pac·i·fied, adjective

Synonyms for pacify

2. soothe, mollify, assuage.

Antonyms for pacify

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

Examples from the Web for pacified

Historical Examples of pacified

  • It was necessary that the Spaniards be pacified, and the slayer could not be found.

    The Trail Book

    Mary Austin

  • When Joggi got thus far in his story, he began to cry and groan, and would not be pacified.

    Rico and Wiseli

    Johanna Spyri

  • However, the sight of the roses, overlapping the water-jug, pacified him; they smelt so sweet.

    His Masterpiece

    Emile Zola

  • Thrasymachus is pacified, but the intrepid Glaucon insists on continuing the argument.

  • Only when Csar had been pacified was there silence to speak of Kate.

    The Manxman

    Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for pacified

pacify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied (tr)

to calm the anger or agitation of; mollify
to restore to peace or order, esp by the threat or use of force
Derived Formspacifiable, adjective

Word Origin for pacify

C15: from Old French pacifier; see pacific
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 pacified

pacify

v.

late 15c., "appease, allay the anger of (someone)," from Middle French pacifier "make peace," from Latin pacificare "to make peace; pacify," from pacificus (see pacific). Of countries or regions, "to bring to a condition of calm," c.1500, from the start with suggestions of submission and terrorization. Related: Pacified; pacifying.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper