pacify
Americanverb (used with object)
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pacifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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pacified,
past participle, past
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pacifying
present participle
verb
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to calm the anger or agitation of; mollify
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to restore to peace or order, esp by the threat or use of force
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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repacifyverb (used with object)
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nonpacifiableadjective
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pacifiableadjective
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unpacifiableadjective
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unpacifiedadjective
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pacifyinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pacifysimple
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pacifiessimple
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have pacifiedperfect
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has pacifiedperfect
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am pacifyingprogressive
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are pacifyingprogressive
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is pacifyingprogressive
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have been pacifyingperfect progressive
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has been pacifyingperfect progressive
Past
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pacifiedsimple
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had pacifiedperfect
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was pacifyingprogressive
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were pacifyingprogressive
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had been pacifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pacify
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Old French pacef(i)ier, pacifier, from Latin pācificāre “to make peace”; see pacific, -fy
Explanation
If you are bringing peace or calm to a state of unrest, you are pacifying the situation. Just think of the transformation a squalling baby undergoes when a pacifier is placed within his mouth, and you will remember the power of the verb to pacify. If you work to establish peace in a certain location between factions at war, then you are working to pacify a country or region. The U.N. has specially trained workers, called peace keepers, who go into to trouble spots to try to pacify rebellions factions and restore order. Or, one can pacify a disgruntled crowd: "The store manager attempted to pacify the restless crowd of shoppers by promising the popular out-of-stock item would soon be back on the shelves."
Vocabulary lists containing pacify
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Power Suffix: -fy
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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:
There’s a mercenary quality to the more ostentatious looks; they please crowds or pacify them for long enough to compel closer listening to the intricacies of her music.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2025
"The population are demanding that our team extend and go to other places and pacify," he says.
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2024
The industry has previously tried to pacify the public and regulators with promises that never materialized, he said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
A Kenyan court blocked a U.N.-backed plan to deploy the country’s officers to help pacify violence on Haiti’s streets.
From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2024
That sleeping on it would help pacify everyone’s big feelings about whatever it was that happened tonight.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
“People are saying, ‘Let’s give our peculiar new king a chance,’ while the prospect of an election pacifies a lot of the frustration and rage that people would otherwise feel.”
From New York Times ● May 7, 2023
In recent months, Farinelli has taken on business partners and a few employees, and has begun working with a third-party logistics company for shipping, though he still pacifies cranky shoppers personally.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2022
Nov. 8 is his “Groundhog Day,” on endless repeat, in a way that pleases and pacifies him.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2017
“Is it really something that pacifies? Or is it something that drives apart?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2016
With which liquidation Salm pacifies itself, and for the present all is hushed up, as much as may be.
From The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle
“What catches on is completely unpredictable, there’s almost a mysterious alchemy to it. What’s clear is this: The regime hasn’t pacified them.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 28, 2026
This is a man who has pacified a team who seemed to be at war with itself once.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2024
When winds blow hard across the lake and storms brew over its waters, it is said that Michi-Cihualli is angry and must be pacified.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2024
The companies pacified the recruits with niceties onshore and offshore.
From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2023
The captain said it was time to leave the pacified village.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
If the Fed is otherwise confident in its bank-liquidity regulations, there’s no obvious reason pacifying the overnight lending market should be a policy concern.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
“Priests and pastors and members of all the churches have participated, helped in pacifying the country. I think it is very good,” López Obrador said the day after the existence of the negotiations was revealed.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 15, 2024
Shetty’s voice, as you might expect from a meditation expert, is extremely pacifying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2023
"The coalition has done a tremendous job in pacifying potential distrust in the government," said Abbas.
From Reuters ● Sep. 6, 2022
Such was the power of an ymbryne over peculiar children: the very presence of one—even one we’d only just met—had an immediate pacifying effect on us.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
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.
