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

Rather than defend its own constitutional prerogatives, the Senate in past years has acquiesced in the politically expedient myth that its duty to approve or deny treaties can be discarded at the pleasure of the executive of the moment. — WSJ, "The Senate Cedes Its Authority on Climate," 26 Dec. 2018 The Spanish club, led by Florentino Perez, always ended up acquiescing to Ronaldo's demands, until now. — Juan Pimiento, chicagotribune.com, "Ronaldo's shock transfer, the World Cup semis and the best of the week in soccer," 12 July 2018 Neither Aramco nor Sabic is enthusiastic about the deal, but the two companies have acquiesced under pressure from government officials, The Wall Street Journal has reported, citing people familiar with the matter. — Rory Jones, WSJ, "Aramco Abandons Plan for Massive Corporate-Bond Sales to Fund Sabic Deal," 19 Nov. 2018 The Ecuadorian delegates acquiesced, and health advocates struggled to find another sponsor for the resolution. — Renae Reints, Fortune, "U.S. Delegates Opposed an International Resolution That Supported Breastfeeding," 8 July 2018 Given Flake’s standing as one of three Republicans who could sink Kavanaugh’s nomination, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ultimately acquiesced and backed calls to the White House for a supplemental FBI review. — Emily Stewart, Vox, "Everything that’s happened since the Ford-Kavanaugh hearing, explained," 2 Oct. 2018 But instead of acquiescing to pressure from the president-elect and keeping production in the US, Ford decided to build the Focus in China — a decision that reportedly saved the company around $1 billion. — Sean O'kane, The Verge, "The Ford Focus is dead in the US because of Trump’s trade war," 31 Aug. 2018 Almost every major car company now allows Apple’s and Google’s own respective in-car infotainment systems to work alongside their own stock software; even major holdouts like Toyota have acquiesced. — Sean O'kane, The Verge, "Amazon’s Echo Auto is another quick fix for the broken state of in-car infotainment," 21 Sep. 2018 Emails to Verizon requesting assistance were met with a sales pitch for a plan more than double cost, to which the Department acquiesced. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Verizon Stops Data Throttling Firefighters, Apologizes," 24 Aug. 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.