appease

[uh-peez]

verb (used with object)

appeased, appeasing 

1. to bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; pacify; soothe.

   to appease an angry king.

   Synonyms: placate, calm
   Antonyms: enrage

2. to satisfy, allay, or relieve; assuage.

   The fruit appeased his hunger.

   Antonyms: sharpen, arouse, increase

3. to yield or concede to the belligerent demands of (a nation, group, person, etc.) in a conciliatory effort, sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles.

   Antonyms: defy

appease

/ əˈpiːz /

verb

1. to calm, pacify, or soothe, esp by acceding to the demands of

2. to satisfy or quell (an appetite or thirst, etc)

Other Word Forms

• appeasable adjective
• appeasableness noun
• appeasably adverb
• appeasement noun
• appeaser noun
• appeasingly adverb
• nonappeasable adjective
• nonappeasing adjective
• unappeasable adjective
• unappeasably adverb
• unappeased adjective
• unappeasing adjective
• unappeasingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of appease¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English apesen, from Anglo-French apeser, Old French apais(i)er; equivalent to a- ⁵ + peace

Word History and Origins

Origin of appease¹

C16: from Old French apaisier, from pais peace, from Latin pax

Synonym Study

Appease, conciliate, propitiate imply trying to preserve or obtain peace. To appease is to make anxious overtures and often undue concessions to satisfy the demands of someone with a greed for power, territory, etc.: Chamberlain tried to appease Hitler at Munich. To conciliate is to win an enemy or opponent over by displaying a willingness to be just and fair: When mutual grievances are recognized, conciliation is possible. To propitiate is to admit a fault, and, by trying to make amends, to allay hostile feeling: to propitiate an offended neighbor.

Example Sentences

Jordan believed poetry had the power to teach and educate, and she did not shy away from difficult word choices to appease the working class.

Read more on Salon

South Korea thought it had appeased its powerful friend.

Read more on BBC

"You could always appease lions by throwing Christians to them," Harold Macmillan, a future prime minister and opponent of the policy, once said.

Read more on BBC

Did Britain’s Labour government torpedo a spying case to appease Beijing?

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday urged allies against appeasing Russia, in a statement after he returned from a trip to the United States where he failed to secure long-range Tomahawk missile supplies.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• allay 
• alleviate 
• assuage 
• blunt 
• calm 
• lessen 
• mitigate 
• mollify 
• placate 
• quell 
• soften 
• soothe