propitiate

American  

[pruh-pish-ee-eyt] / prəˈpɪʃ iˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

propitiated, propitiating

1. to make favorably inclined; appease; conciliate.

   Antonyms:

   arouse, anger

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propitiate British  

/ prəˈpɪʃɪˌeɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to appease or make well disposed; conciliate

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Usage

What does propitiate mean? Propitiate means to gain the favor of or make things right with someone, especially after having done something wrong.The noun form of propitiate is propitiation. Close synonyms of propitiate are conciliate and appease. Propitiate is commonly used in a religious context. It’s especially used in Christianity to refer to the act of propitiation that Christians believe Jesus made to atone for sin—or to the atonement that Christians believe they should make to God.Example: To gain redemption, we must do our best to propitiate—to earn the favor we have lost.

Related Words

See appease.

Other Word Forms

• nonpropitiable adjective
• nonpropitiative adjective
• propitiable adjective
• propitiatingly adverb
• propitiation noun
• propitiatious adjective
• propitiative adjective
• propitiator noun
• unpropitiable adjective
• unpropitiated adjective
• unpropitiating adjective
• unpropitiative adjective

Etymology

Origin of propitiate

1635–45; < Latin propitiātus, past participle of propitiāre to appease. See propitious, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

Especially I felt this when I made any attempt to propitiate him.

From Literature

Before he was reinstated, the Anderson School’s Faculty Executive Committee tried to propitiate the mob by announcing itself “saddened” by Klein’s “troubling conduct.”

From Washington Post

“In ancient times, contagions were attributed to the wrath of goddesses... that needed to be propitiated,” said Namboothiri in Malayalam.

From Washington Post

He suggests that they may have perceived the cave walls as a kind of membrane between their world and the spirits, and thus created their paintings as a means of propitiating them.

From The Guardian

Norman’s description of a crisis over which deity to propitiate, a crisis that began with the thirteenth and continues to the present day, is impressive in its clarity.

From New York Times