acquiesce
verb
ac·qui·esce
ˌa-kwē-ˈes 
acquiesced; acquiescing
: to accept, comply, or submit tacitly or passively
—often used with in or to
Did you know?
If you’re looking to give your speech a gentle, formal flair, don't give acquiesce the silent treatment. Essentially meaning "to comply quietly," acquiesce has as its ultimate source the Latin verb quiēscere, "to be quiet." (Quiet itself is also a close relation.) Quiēscere can also mean "to repose," "to fall asleep," or "to rest," and when acquiesce arrived in English via French in the early 1600s, it did so with two senses: the familiar "to agree or comply" and the now-obsolete "to rest satisfied."
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
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
Trump’s disdain for Powell stretches back to his first term as president, all centered on Powell’s refusal to acquiesce to Trump’s demands for lower rates.
—Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 20 June 2025
Democrats could persuade Elon Musk to support their cause by persuading him that most of his customers are Democrats and acquiescing to some of his ideas, Anthony Scaramucci has suggested.
—Kate Plummer, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025
The White House has frozen the funding after Harvard would not acquiesce to demands such as changing its hiring and admissions process and eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
—Ellen Mitchell, The Hill, 3 June 2025
Standing in the way of this dream were the rules of feminine behavior they had been taught to live by, the punishing standards of beauty they were held to, and men’s wholesale refusal to acquiesce to even the most minor of feminist demands.
—Alice Bolin
june 23, Literary Hub, 23 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for acquiesce
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Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 20 June 2025
Democrats could persuade Elon Musk to support their cause by persuading him that most of his customers are Democrats and acquiescing to some of his ideas, Anthony Scaramucci has suggested.
—Kate Plummer, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025
The White House has frozen the funding after Harvard would not acquiesce to demands such as changing its hiring and admissions process and eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
—Ellen Mitchell, The Hill, 3 June 2025
Standing in the way of this dream were the rules of feminine behavior they had been taught to live by, the punishing standards of beauty they were held to, and men’s wholesale refusal to acquiesce to even the most minor of feminist demands.
—Alice Bolin
june 23, Literary Hub, 23 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for acquiesce
Cite this Entry
“Acquiesce.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acquiesce. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
acquiesce
verb
ac·qui·esce
ˌak-wē-ˈes
acquiesced; acquiescing
: to accept, agree, or give consent by keeping silent or by not raising objections
acquiescence
noun
-ˈes-ᵊn(t)s
Legal Definition
acquiesce
intransitive verb
ac·qui·esce
ˌa-kwē-ˈes
acquiesced; acquiescing
: to accept, comply, or submit tacitly or passively
—often used with in and sometimes with to
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