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:
I don't think we should expect to pacify the crowd, that might not be possible.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2025
We are easier to marginalize and to pacify if we fold ourselves into such tiny boxes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 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
Local officials said police would investigate the incident, in an attempt to pacify the villagers.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 23, 2023
I tried to pacify her, and at last succeeded, and she lay quiet; but I could hear her poor dear heart still beating terribly.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
“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
“The best that can be expected under the circumstances,” with a wan smile, should suffice, as it pacifies the audience without exaggerating the truth.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 21, 2021
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
But Ganga pacifies her and they agree to make over the children to Valmiki, when they become a little old.
From Tales from the Hindu Dramatists by J. S. Zemin
But the details will be all the more important, as activists may not be pacified by temporary measures.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
“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
“I have faith that very soon all this region is going to be pacified and brotherhood and concord will return,” he said during a recent visit to La Concordia to inaugurate a new bridge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2024
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
The government sees employment as key to pacifying China's most pessimistic generation in decades, while graduates gaining even limited work experience can also benefit their future employers if the economy recovers, analysts say.
From Reuters ● Nov. 14, 2023
Shetty’s voice, as you might expect from a meditation expert, is extremely pacifying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2023
Rights groups in the past have dismissed government probes as a public relations tool aimed at pacifying public anger.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 16, 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.
