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
appeaser
nounExplore M-W
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
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Magee has narrowed the legislation to only apply to felony convictions -- misdemeanors and traffic court fines would not be affected by it -- to try to appease the clerks.
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Bannon's views won out on this issue, due in no small part to the fact that Trump promised to get out of Paris during the campaign and felt compelled to make good on that pledge to appease his political base.
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But that didn’t appease dozens of employers, including owners of for-profit businesses, who subsequently filed lawsuits.
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The removal was to appease hard-liners who said the statue was erected last year in front of a ground used for prayers during two Islamic festivals.
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And Russia was not even on the agenda at the NATO mini-summit, likely a futile gesture to appease Trump.
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Almost a dozen FX traders and sales people have sued their former employers in the past two years, claiming they were made scapegoats by banks rushing to appease regulators amid the scandal.
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Markle’s unconventional background and red carpet experience mean her sartorial choices are likely to appease courtiers and fashion critics.
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Apple had no word on layoffs Tuesday, offering instead the management shuffle to appease investors on the eve of its shareholder meeting.
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.
Origin and Etymology of appease
Middle English appesen, from Anglo-French apeser, apaiser, from a- (from Latin ad-) + pais peace — more at peace
First Known Use: 14th century
Synonym Discussion of appease
APPEASE Defined for English Language Learners
appease
playDefinition of appease for English Language Learners
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: to make (someone) pleased or less angry by giving or saying something desired
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: to make (a pain, a problem, etc.) less painful or troubling
APPEASE Defined for Kids
appease
playDefinition of appease for Students
appeased
;appeasing
1 : to make calm or quiet appease their anger
2 : to make less severe appeased his hunger
Learn More about appease
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for appease Spanish Central: Translation of appease Nglish: Translation of appease for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of appease for Arabic speakers
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