placate
1 Americanverb (used with object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
placatesimple
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placatessimple
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have placatedperfect
-
has placatedperfect
-
am placatingprogressive
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are placatingprogressive
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is placatingprogressive
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have been placatingperfect progressive
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has been placatingperfect progressive
Past
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placatedsimple
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had placatedperfect
-
was placatingprogressive
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were placatingprogressive
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had been placatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of placate1
First recorded in 1670–80; from Latin plācātus, past participle of plācāre “to quiet, calm, appease,” akin to placēre “to please”; cf. please
Origin of placate2
First recorded in 1625–35; apparently variant of placard
Explanation
If you placate someone, you stop them from being angry by giving them something or doing something that pleases them. If your dad is annoyed that you forgot to take out the trash, you might be able to placate him by doing the dishes. If your little sister is mad that the dog ate her favorite teddy bear, you could placate her by buying her an ice cream cone. A near synonym for placate is appease. The origin of placate is Latin placare, "to calm or soothe." The related Latin verb placere is the source of English please.
Vocabulary lists containing placate
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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:
In that Peacock series, Elizabeth Banks’ Lindy Littlejohn is a best-selling author tired of diminishing her well-earned reputation to placate her husband, a bumbling scientist.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2026
It sparked an all-hands-on-deck effort to placate Trump with a raft of trade proposals—and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
And she has one of the best laugh lines in the movie when she bats her eyes at the baddies and tries to placate them with, “You guys seem like good people.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026
Captain Cristian Romero's flying last-minute header salvaged a point for the visitors at Turf Moor but it was not enough to placate frustrated fans.
From Barron's ● Jan. 24, 2026
His foster mother at the time had tried to placate him with candy from the vending machine, but he had just cried under the table until she dragged him out and they went home.
From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway
To conceal this, Spotify placates us by telling us that we’re superior in some way because of it.
From Slate ● Dec. 3, 2020
It’s a position that by now must feel familiar to Melania Trump — her husband provokes while she placates.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 27, 2018
It reassures the people who count on us that we're back on the straight and narrow, it placates the wronged party, and, ideally, it leads to self-reflection and improved behavior.
From Golf Digest ● Oct. 30, 2017
So British Gas will be hoping this new scheme placates the government while ensuring it holds on to millions of customers who don't switch and who have traditionally paid over the odds for their energy.
From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2017
For nothing ever placates them, nothing ever moves to a look of approval that ring of bleak, old, contemptuous Faces.
From Modern Essays by Ayres, Harry Morgan
“These City Council people placated to the squeaky wheels,” Brandhorst said after the council hearing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
Which is to say, by becoming more understanding of our oppressor’s need to be placated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
Those most concerned about Medicaid were placated earlier in the day to at least go along with this step.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2025
Eventually, she said, she placated Mr. Majors, saying she would try to do better, and he left.
From New York Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
Not when invaders were threatening the Empire and the populous had to be placated.
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
Soundly beating earnings expectations isn’t placating investors skeptical of the durability of the frenzied AI data center buildout, which is driving these outsize earnings reports.
From Barron's ● Apr. 16, 2026
For Dr Wallace, the ad sends a message that "an affordable Christmas" is possible, by "placating the cash-strapped 'Grinch' that threatens to spoil everyone's Christmas".
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2025
Neither satisfying the public’s prurient curiosity, nor allowing Epstein conspiracy theorists to second-guess prosecutorial judgment, nor placating a president’s political base is a valid reason to break the normal rule.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2025
With Carol, we saw that evolution from a placating wife and grieving mother into someone acutely aware of how strangers see her, and the ways that she can use their assumptions to her advantage.
From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2024
“I ... I am in your service.. .Cinder made a placating gesture. “You are a tool in my hand,” the shadowed man interrupted gently.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
