Synonyms

reconcile

American

[rek-uhn-sahyl] / ˈrɛk ənˌsaɪl /

verb (used with object)

to cause (a person) to accept or be resigned to something not desired.

He was reconciled to his fate.
to win over to friendliness; cause to become amicable.

to reconcile hostile persons.

Synonyms:

placate, propitiate, pacify
to compose or settle (a quarrel, dispute, etc.).

Antonyms:

anger
to bring into agreement or harmony; make compatible or consistent.

to reconcile differing statements;
to reconcile accounts.

Synonyms:

harmonize
to reconsecrate (a desecrated church, cemetery, etc.).
to restore (an excommunicate or penitent) to communion in a church.

verb (used without object)

to become reconciled.

reconcile British

/ ˈrɛkənˌsaɪl, -trɪ, ˌrɛkənˌsɪlɪˈeɪʃən, ˌrɛkənˈsɪlɪətərɪ /

verb

to make (oneself or another) no longer opposed; cause to acquiesce in something unpleasant

she reconciled herself to poverty
to become friendly with (someone) after estrangement or to re-establish friendly relations between (two or more people)
to settle (a quarrel or difference)
to make (two apparently conflicting things) compatible or consistent with each other
to reconsecrate (a desecrated church, etc)

"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

Usage

What does reconcile mean? Reconcile means to make amends, come to a truce, or settle a dispute. Reconcile can also mean to make things compatible or consistent with each other. This sense of the word is especially used when discussing two things that cannot be reconciled, such as two contrasting beliefs. Another sense of the word means to cause to accept a negative situation or become resigned to it, as in I am reconciled to my fate of never being able to afford my dream house. The noun form of reconcile is reconciliation, which refers to the process of reconciling. It’s also the name of a Catholic sacrament involving the confession of sin. Example: After years of not speaking to each other, the two finally sat down and reconciled.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of reconcile

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English reconcilen, from Latin reconciliāre “to make good again, repair,” equivalent to re- re- + conciliāre “to bring together” ( see conciliate)

Explanation

Reach for the verb reconcile to make different things come together or resolve a matter. If you've ever had an argument with someone and then made up, you have reconciled. Reconcile is a verb that can mean "to become resigned" like if you're reconciled to getting the bottom bunk when you wanted the top. It also means to "bring into agreement and harmony." Words like it are pacify, harmonize, and accommodate — reconcile is definitely an agreeable word!

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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:

reconcile reconciles reconciled reconciling

How should I reconcile the value of that work with everything you’ve described?

From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2026

A visibly upset Harry said in an emotional February 2025 BBC interview that he missed the UK, and he wanted to reconcile with his family.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

If we ever reconcile, the estate plan can always be changed.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

"I think William doesn't care about the pressure to reconcile," said royal author, Valentine Low.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Folks were desperate for answers and trying to reconcile themselves to a situation that made no sense.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Remembering this time they shared, Travolta works through the memories of his mother, and reconciles the good with the not-so-great.

From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026

There is nothing that reconciles those two decisions through any logic or law.

From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2026

Until this hypothetical key to the mysteries puts a bow on string theory and reconciles quantum and classical mechanics, don’t bother.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026

More like a short story, recounting the evening from Hart’s point of view as he reconciles with the fact that his former creative partner Richard Rodgers has created a hit with Oscar Hammerstein.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2025

Nevertheless, the story of the Fall of Man, of which that theology, in its fundamentally true part, is a reasoned expression, is the one thing, Schopenhauer avows, that reconciles him to the Old Testament.

From Schopenhauer by Thomas Whittaker

The two eventually reconciled, though Feinstein stuck with members of the team that replaced Reilly and helped guide her to successive terms in the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

Graham reconciled their relationship and backed his re-election bid.

From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026

Dwayne Johnson’s performance in “The Smashing Machine,” for all the film’s flaws, cleverly reconciled the dissonance between the outward images of masculine power and internal feelings of self-loathing.

From Salon ● May 27, 2026

Despite experiencing periods of painful distance, Verhoeven reconciled with his father before his death.

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

But that led to this hard-to-believe transformation: Mrs. Lepellier began to be reconciled to me because I liked her cooking.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

“When heirs cannot reach a unanimous decision, the executor’s role becomes pivotal. Executors are tasked with reconciling conflicts,” Hancock Whitney adds.

From MarketWatch ● May 21, 2026

The exercises are another step toward reconciling the one-time adversaries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

"Nuclear power is key to reconciling both independence -- and thus energy sovereignty -- with decarbonisation, and thus carbon neutrality," Macron said.

From Barron's ● Mar. 10, 2026

Already, Safdie is back on Marty, leaving Kay somewhere else entirely, reconciling her broken dreams and what may very well be the end of her professional career.

From Salon ● Dec. 22, 2025

Instead of reconciling these contradictory observations, he had laid the issue before his colleagues.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023