appeasement

noun

ap·pease·ment | \ ə-ˈpēz-mənt

plural appeasements

Definition of appeasement

1 : the act or action of appeasing someone or something … one tribe may go in for the appeasement of local ghosts …— W. D. Howells especially : a policy of appeasing an enemy or potential aggressor by making concessions Although appeasement may work in individual cases, terrorist groups with global ambitions cannot be appeased by territorial concessions. — Walter Laqueur The Munich analogy—recalling the Allies' appeasement of Germany over its demands on Czechoslovakia in 1938—has been cited again and again, and this is understandable. — Fredric Smoler

2 : the state of being satisfied an experience from which he derived little appeasement … we are relieved to read of Shaw … alleviating the tedium of a vegetarian diet with secret gorges on boiled sweets and cake; his sensuality found appeasement in sugar.— Robertson Davies

Examples of appeasement in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Their town wasn't big enough for the both of them, wages wise, and the German had been handed his £350,000-a-week appeasement a year earlier. — SI.com, "Washed: How Arsenal & the New York Knicks Became the Laughing Stocks of Their Player Markets," 16 July 2019 Having been a resident of Denver since 1945, my observations indicate that the present status of our transportation system is replete with bad decisions offered as appeasement to the wealthy residents proudly inventoried in this report. — Dp Opinion, The Denver Post, "Letters: Incentives Gaylord could receive unknown; TABOR continues to be a hot topic (7/14/19)," 14 July 2019 Britain’s prime minister between May 1937 and May 1940—is at the center of the appeasement story. — Tim Bouverie, WSJ, "Five Best: Tim Bouverie on the British Appeasement of Adolf Hitler," 28 June 2019 Now, contrast that disaster that utter appeasement to what Trump has done in the 18 months. — Fox News, "Mark Levin on media freakout over Trump-Putin summit," 18 July 2018 Today’s Democrats speak in hyperbole, ignore good economic news and visible problems, wage vengeful vendettas, appeal to emotion and engage in appeasement and subterfuge to hide their true motives and agenda. — WSJ, "The ‘Character Issue’ Spares Neither Party," 15 Mar. 2019 Europe should stand fast with the U.S. Wishful thinking and appeasement will not keep the Continent safe. — Danny Danon, WSJ, "Zero Hour for the Islamic Republic," 24 Oct. 2018 Nearby, a lone woman holds a placard denouncing South Korea’s president for appeasement of Kim Jong Un’s regime. — Brian Murphy, Washington Post, "Trump has decried North Korea’s ‘brutality.’ But will human rights remain high on summit agenda?," 6 June 2018 His fiery, farther-seeing daughter considered that little better than appeasement. — Charles Finch, USA TODAY, "Two new books reflect on why 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' and Atticus Finch, matter so much," 25 June 2018

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