propitiatory
Americanadjective
noun
Other Word Forms
- propitiatorily adverb
- unpropitiatory adjective
Etymology
Origin of propitiatory
1275–1325; (noun) Middle English propiciatori the mercy seat < Late Latin propitiātōrium ( 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.
There was a brief Cabinet crisis, in which Premier Solh shuffled his ministers in a faintly propitiatory manner.
From Time Magazine Archive
Ancestors are invoked who around her as she starts the propitiatory dance.
From Time Magazine Archive
A quantity of oil for the crew and pilot is referred to, and oxen were also slaughtered, apparently as a propitiatory sacrifice on the completion of the vessel.
From The Old Testament In the Light of The Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia by Pinches, Theophilus Goldridge
He already felt the most abject and propitiatory of social outcasts when he came upon Coote, and Coote finished him.
From Kipps The Story of a Simple Soul by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)
Some dire calamity was certain to befall those who passed his abode without making some propitiatory offering.
From Vermont A Study of Independence by Robinson, Rowland E. (Evans)
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.
