appease

verb

ap·​pease ə-ˈpēz How to pronounce appease (audio)
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
appeasable adjective
appeaser noun
Choose the Right Synonym for appease

pacify, appease, placate, mollify, propitiate, conciliate mean to ease the anger or disturbance of.

pacify suggests a soothing or calming.

pacified by a sincere apology

appease implies quieting insistent demands by making concessions.

appease their territorial ambitions

placate suggests changing resentment or bitterness to goodwill.

a move to placate local opposition

mollify implies soothing hurt feelings or rising anger.

a speech that mollified the demonstrators

propitiate implies averting anger or malevolence especially of a superior being.

propitiated his parents by dressing up

conciliate suggests ending an estrangement by persuasion, concession, or settling of differences.

conciliating the belligerent nations

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 on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The courtroom was so overcrowded at one point that town officials warned the building might collapse, prompting the judge to set up a temporary court outside to appease the masses. Angele Latham, The Tennessean, 10 July 2025 But on Wednesday, Ghiz said the hearing was held entirely to appease Bennett's client, a drug dealer who had demanded that Bennett argue his case in court. Kevin Grasha, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025 In the final days of negotiations in the Senate, lawmakers added a $50 billion fund to support rural hospitals and appease senators who were concerned about Medicaid cuts. Brittany Carloni, IndyStar, 2 July 2025 In the marathon overnight session that spanned more than 24 hours, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and his team made several eleventh-hour changes to appease holdouts like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who had expressed concerns about the bill’s cuts to social safety net programs. Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 2 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for appease

Word History

Etymology

Middle English appesen, from Anglo-French apeser, apaiser, from a- (from Latin ad-) + pais peace — more at peace

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Time Traveler
The first known use of appease was in the 14th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Appease.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appease. Accessed 14 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

appease

verb
ap·​pease ə-ˈpēz How to pronounce appease (audio)
appeased; appeasing
1
: to make calm or quiet
2
: to make less severe : relieve
appeased my hunger
3
: to give in to even when it is wrong to do so
appeasement noun
appeaser noun
Etymology

Middle English appesen "to appease," from early French apaiser (same meaning), from a- "to" and pais "peace," from Latin pac-, pax "peace" — related to pacify, peace

More from Merriam-Webster on appease

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!