Appease: meaning, example and synonyms
Appeasev. To calm or pacify someone by giving in to their demands.
Example
To appease the residents who opposed the highway, planners added a park and sound barriers, though critics argued the concessions only invited further demands.
- Part of speech
- verb
- Synonyms
- placate, pacify, mollify, conciliate
- Antonyms
- provoke, antagonize, enrage, inflame
- Memory tip
- Appease contains peace: you buy peace by giving in.
Appease is in batch 12. Study it with the rest of the batch, then pass the batch quiz to learn it. No account needed; progress is saved on this device.
Check yourself: Appease in context
Hoping to ______ the furious tenants, the landlord promised to repair the broken heating within a week and waived that month's rent.
Answer: appease. Concessions meant to calm furious tenants pacify them: appease. Venerate (revere), incubate (nurture slowly) and derogate (disparage) don't describe calming angry people.
Historians still debate whether the council's concessions to the rebellious guilds ______ them or merely emboldened them to demand still greater privileges.
Answer: appeased. The contrast with 'emboldened them to demand more' points to pacifying by giving in: appeased. Venerated (revered), incubated (nurtured) and derogated (disparaged) don't set up that contrast.