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 /

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

During his campaigning across France this summer, he put forward a programme rooted in the left that tries to reconcile ecological transition with social progress.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026

How did you reconcile the rock star and new dad halves of your life?

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

However, before the due date, the couple split up and did not reconcile.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

Buffered by wealth and social position, Darwin was able to reconcile, like few of his peers, the secluded life of a country squire with the exacting demands of scientific work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Separation is familiar, too familiar, but Celia is uncertain she can reconcile it with permanence.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

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

Another early highlight, Reliquia, chops and splices a chamber quartet into unrecognisable electronic patterns, as Rosalía reconciles herself to the idea that she loves too hard, and locates the beauty in that vulnerability.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025

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

Who reconciles the erring son in prison with his mother and father?

From The Nation Behind Prison Bars by George L. (George Lewis) Herr

The question for the chancellor is whether better consumer and business spirits can be reconciled with the need for a "challenging" Budget?

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

Phobos' present-day gravity field, shape, density, spectral properties, and changing orbit must all be reconciled within a single geophysical model.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

"That includes several audits. They have now reconciled their historical data, and recently they published a revised bulletin with the historical data, incorporating the findings of the debt," she said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

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

Although she knew that computers were now essential, she had never become reconciled to them.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

The researchers had already published work aimed at reconciling argon-argon dating with uranium-lead dating, the two methods most widely used to determine the ages of rocks.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

Venezuela's interim government and opposition representatives on Wednesday wrapped up a first round of talks aimed at reconciling the nation following the US ouster of longtime leader Nicolas Maduro.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

The track finds mother and daughter writing to each other about their relationship, reconciling the effects Madonna’s fame had on her firstborn child.

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026

If food is strangely divisive for the Rubinsteins, art is a reconciling passion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026

Coaxing the buttons through their holes was like reconciling warring friends, but I finally secured all five of them over my flat chest and belly, a task that was growing harder every day.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

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