acquiescence

[ ak-wee-es-uhns ]

noun

1. the act or condition of acquiescing or giving tacit assent; agreement or consent by silence or without objection; compliance (usually followed by to or in ):

   acquiescence to his boss's demands.

2. Law. such neglect to take legal proceedings for such a long time as to imply the abandonment of a right.

Other Words From

• nonac·qui·escence noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of acquiescence¹

First recorded in 1625–35; acquiesce + -ence

Example Sentences

Ford’s pitch for magnanimity echoes similar calls for normalization, if not direct acquiescence, that some of America’s least compelling pundits have issued over the past 12 hours or so.

From Slate

“Endorsement doesn’t mean approval or acquiescence,” the group noted.

From Los Angeles Times

They benefited, too, from either knowing inaction or blatant acquiescence from American platforms that wished to keep doing business with India’s massive consumer bases—even as these BJP initiatives sparked grisly real-life pogroms.

From Slate

Ten years ago, we wrote of American Jews’ acquiescence to Jewish nationalism: “During the 1950s and later decades, the solution for avoiding an ugly rift was a kind of preventive surgery. Universalist, prophetic Judaism became a phantom limb of American Jewry, after an amputation in service of the ideology of an ethnic state in the Middle East. Pressures for conformity became overwhelming among American Jews, whose success had been predicated on the American ideal of equal rights regardless of ethnic group origin.”

From Salon

“Because to keep him in place is permission, is acquiescence, is acceptance of which is happening in Palestine, and what is happening in Palestine is genocide.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• acceptance
• assent
• concurrence
• consent
• obedience
• yielding