appease

verb ap·pease \ ə-ˈpēz \

Definition of appease

appeased; appeasing

transitive verb

1 :pacify, conciliate; especially :to make concessions to (someone, such as an aggressor or a critic) often at the sacrifice of principles

appeased the dictator by accepting his demands

Placaters, who try hard to appease others so as to keep the peace, fear getting hurt in some way.
—Mike Cote

2 :to cause to subside :allay

appeased my hunger

trying to appease her guilty conscience

3 :to bring to a state of peace or quiet :calm

appease a quarrel

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appeasable

play \-ˈpē-zə-bəl\ adjective

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appeasement

play \-ˈpēz-mənt\ noun

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appeaser

noun

See appease defined for English-language learners

See appease defined for kids

Examples of appease in a Sentence

But I imagine he and his siblings, who profited handsomely from the sale, have mixed emotions. They may be sad they had to sell, yet relieved that they are no longer under pressure to appease Wall Street's demand for growth and profits. —James Laube, Wine Spectator, 31 Mar. 2005
The first is that, in affluent America, mothering has gone from an art to a cult, with devotees driving themselves to ever more baroque extremes to appease the goddess of perfect motherhood. —Judith Shulevitz, New York Times Book Review, 20 Feb. 2005
It was last summer, and Gingell, then Sun Microsystems's chief software engineer, had an excuse: His twin-engine Cessna had broken down, and he'd lost track of time while he gabbed on the phone with his mechanic. That wasn't likely to appease Sun's famously tart-tongued CEO, Scott McNealy, who was getting his introductory briefing on a vital new technology initiative that happened to be Gingell's brainchild. —Erick Schonfeld, Business 2.0, September 2002
The California legislature's solution to this seemingly intractable problem was a politically appealing package with features to appease both utility investors and ratepayers. —Benjamin A. Holden, Wall Street Journal, 19 Feb. 1997
They appeased the dictator by accepting his demands in an effort to avoid war.
His critics were not appeased by this last speech.
They made sacrifices to appease the gods.
We had no way to appease our hunger.

Recent Examples of appease from the Web

There's specific wording this administration uses in an attempt to appease the rest of us while supporting racist and hateful groups.

— jazz smollett-warwell, Glamour, "Raising Our Daughters In the Age of Charlottesville: An Open Letter to Ivanka Trump," 25 Aug. 2017
Our silence creates and protects the environment in which hatred grows and is quietly appeased.

— scott arbeiter, Washington Post, "As a white evangelical leader, I have said too little on racism. I ask forgiveness.," 17 Aug. 2017
His attorney, Clyde Bennett II, previously said his client was being used as a scapegoat to appease the community.

— sarah brookbank, Cincinnati.com, "Jury selection begins in Kelsie Crow murder trial," 15 Aug. 2017
For a few years, the fashion and tech industries have struggled to find a place that appeases both ends of the spectrum.

— christine flammia, Esquire, "This Menswear Brand Is Doing Technical Fashion Right," 20 July 2017
Ending the plan, in addition to appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin, is also an acknowledgment of the United States' limited ability to remove Assad from power.

— Bloomberg.com, "Report: Trump Ends Covert Plan to Arm Syrian Rebels," 20 July 2017
In Warsaw, the president delivered the antithesis to the fallacious, appeasing lecture Obama preached to the Egyptians.

— victor davis hanson, National Review, "Trump’s Anti-Cairo Speech," 11 July 2017
July should have been the time for Gilbert to pull out all the stops to appease James, not do everything in his power to push him away.

— ben golliver, SI.com, "2017 NBA Free Agency Winners And Losers," 6 July 2017
According to police, the Uber driver feared for his life and continued driving to appease Espitia, who eventually ordered him to pull over to the side of the road.

— chris harris, PEOPLE.com, "Seattle Man Allegedly Kills Wife in Uber Vehicle During Argument," 4 July 2017

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