Definition of acquiesce
acquiesced
;acquiescing
intransitive verb
: to accept, comply, or submit tacitly or passively —often used with in or to
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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 of acquiesce from the Web
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Not acquiescing to the pressures from the record company to write power ballads.
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Initial results Putin acquiesced to U.S. abrogation of 1972 Anti‑Ballistic Missile treaty and was the first foreign leader to call Bush after 9/11.
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The Russian government has been asking for similar code access from American technology firms, and many – including IBM, Cisco, and SAP – have acquiesced.
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Otherwise, however, the NBA has permitted or at least acquiesced to potential recruitment communications between players who are under contract with different teams.
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As soon as Mondelez International finally acquiesced to one activist, Trian, by giving it a seat on the board, Mr. Ackman, of Pershing Square Capital Management, showed up.
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The major TV networks acquiesced, although not without some grumbling.
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The U.S. has a positive obligation under international law to prevent torture instead of acquiescing in it.
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There was backtracking, second guessing and even an admission of acquiescing to political pressure.
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.
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."
Origin and Etymology of acquiesce
French acquiescer, from Latin acquiescere, from ad- + quiescere to be quiet — more at quiescent
Synonym Discussion of acquiesce
ACQUIESCE Defined for English Language Learners
acquiesce
playDefinition of acquiesce for English Language Learners
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: to accept, agree, or allow something to happen by staying silent or by not arguing
ACQUIESCE Defined for Kids
acquiesce
playDefinition of acquiesce for Students
acquiesced
;acquiescing
: to accept, agree, or give consent by keeping silent or by not making objections They acquiesced to the demands.
Law Dictionary
Learn More about acquiesce
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See words that rhyme with acquiesce Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for acquiesce Spanish Central: Translation of acquiesce Nglish: Translation of acquiesce for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of acquiesce for Arabic speakers
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