Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

propitiatory

American  
[pruh-pish-ee-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / prəˈpɪʃ i əˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

adjective

  1. serving or intended to propitiate.

  2. making propitiation; conciliatory.

noun

  1. mercy seat.

propitiatory British  
/ prəˈpɪʃɪətərɪ /

adjective

  1. designed or intended to propitiate; conciliatory; expiatory

"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

noun

  1. the mercy seat

"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

Other Word Forms

  • propitiatorily adverb
  • unpropitiatory adjective

Etymology

Origin of propitiatory

1275–1325; (noun) Middle English propiciatori the mercy seat < Late Latin propitiātōrium ( see propitiate, -tory 2); (adj.) < Late Latin propitiātōrius ( -tory 1 )

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.

Ancestors are invoked who around her as she starts the propitiatory dance.

From Time Magazine Archive

There was a brief Cabinet crisis, in which Premier Solh shuffled his ministers in a faintly propitiatory manner.

From Time Magazine Archive

A timid propitiatory smile curved her sensitive mouth and arched her long, finely-drawn eyebrows.

From Rough-Hewn by Canfield, Dorothy

The propitiatory offering might be anything from a bunch of cocoanuts covered with turmeric powder to a great feast.

From The Fijians A Study of the Decay of Custom by Thomson, Basil

But what is the propitiatory element in the Christian Atonement? let Canon Liddon answer: "the ignominy and pain needed for the redemption."

From My Path to Atheism by Besant, Annie Wood

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.