Definition of ACQUIESCE

Synonyms & Antonyms for acquiesce

Synonyms

Antonyms

Choose the Right Synonym for acquiesce

assent, consent, accede, acquiesce, agree, subscribe mean to concur with what has been proposed. assent implies an act involving the understanding or judgment and applies to propositions or opinions. voters assented to the proposal consent involves the will or feelings and indicates compliance with what is requested or desired. consented to their daughter's going accede implies a yielding, often under pressure, of assent or consent. officials acceded to the prisoners' demands acquiesce implies tacit acceptance or forbearance of opposition. acquiesced to his boss's wishes agree sometimes implies previous difference of opinion or attempts at persuasion. finally agreed to come along subscribe implies not only consent or assent but hearty approval and active support. subscribes wholeheartedly to the idea

Did You Know?

Acquiesce means essentially "to comply quietly," so it should not surprise you to learn that it is ultimately derived from the Latin verb quiescere, meaning "to be quiet." It arrived in English around 1620, via the French acquiescer, with the now obsolete sense "to rest satisfied." The earliest known recorded use of the word acquiesce in the sense of "to agree or comply" appeared in the writings of the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes in 1651. In his masterpiece Leviathan, Hobbes argued that people must subject themselves completely to a sovereign and should obey the teachings of the church. Encouraging his readers to adopt his position he wrote, "Our Beleefe . . . is in the Church; whose word we take, and acquiesce therein."

Examples of acquiesce in a Sentence

… the tender understanding with which he had acquiesced to her wish not to consummate their relationship out of wedlock. — Dorothy West, The Wedding, 1995 … he seems to have acquiesced in his Christian Scientist wife's refusal to provide medical care … — Joyce Carol Oates, New York Times Book Review, 17 Dec. 1995 The main body of Shi'is, in and around Iraq, accepted 'Abbasid rule, or at least acquiesced in it. — Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, 1991 He passively acquired the reputation of being a snob, and acquiesced to it … — George V. Higgins, Harper's, September 1984 They demanded it, and he acquiesced. apparently the contractor expected me to acquiesce to my own fleecing

Recent Examples on the Web

Although most carriers have acquiesced, a handful of American companies continue to resist the order. — Rebecca Tan, Washington Post, "The U.S. government has opened a huge new facility in Taiwan, and China isn’t happy," 18 June 2018 In keeping with its policy never simply to acquiesce to the department’s safety demands, the authority, instead, contested the results, conducted its own tests, and, not surprisingly, found contradictory and exonerating numbers. — Ginia Bellafante, New York Times, "New York City’s Worst Landlord? It Might Be the City," 13 June 2018 The Trump administration appears to be trying to push Europe to acquiesce via intimidation instead of cooperation. — Bryan R. Early, Washington Post, "E.U. countries want to save the Iran nuclear deal. Don’t expect cooperation on U.S. sanctions.," 25 May 2018 While opposing the president on these matters would be politically difficult for Republicans, acquiescing would result in economic harm and complicity in executive overreach. — Pat Toomey, WSJ, "Don’t Try to Blackmail Us on Nafta, Mr. President," 10 May 2018 The President also acquiesced in the Secret Service's attempt to have the Judiciary craft a new protective function privilege (rejecting requests by this Office that the President order the Secret Service officers to testify). — Aaron Blake, Washington Post, "Brett Kavanaugh, Trump and what the Starr Report says about impeachment, annotated," 11 July 2018 America acquiesced in its monopoly over the Soviet strategic legacy. — The Economist, "North Korea presents nuclear disarmament’s biggest challenge yet," 5 July 2018 In later years, Chinese officials and the China Harbor company went to great lengths to keep relations strong with Mr. Rajapaksa, who for years had faithfully acquiesced to such terms. — Maria Abi-habib, New York Times, "How China Got Sri Lanka to Cough Up a Port," 25 June 2018 Bartleby fails to acquiesce in carrying out his humdrum, tedious tasks. — The Economist, "Introducing Bartleby, our new column on management and work," 26 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'acquiesce.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.