conciliatory

adjective

con·​cil·​ia·​to·​ry kən-ˈsil-yə-ˌtȯr-ē 

-ˈsi-lē-ə-

: intended to gain goodwill or favor or to reduce hostility : tending or intended to conciliate

speaking in a conciliatory tone

But while the conference call might have been seen as a conciliatory gesture, an olive branch to his critics after weeks of bitter back-and-forth, the meeting seemed anything but.

—Colin Deppen

He was self-assured, aggressive, combative, at times willing to offend and at times trying to sound conciliatory.

—Dan Balz

Did you know?

If you are conciliatory towards someone, you're trying to win that person over to your side. The verb conciliate was borrowed into English in the mid-16th century and descends from the Latin verb conciliare, meaning "to assemble, unite, or win over." Conciliare, in turn, comes from Latin concilium, meaning "assembly" or "council." Conciliatory, which appeared in English a bit later in the 16th century, also traces back to conciliare. Another word that has conciliare as a root is reconcile, the earliest meaning of which is "to restore to friendship or harmony."

Synonyms

• placatory
• soothing
• benevolent
• peaceful
• propitiatory
• conciliating
• comforting
• kind
• pacific
• appeasing
• gentle
• mollifying
• calming
• placating

Examples of conciliatory in a Sentence

eased the tension with conciliatory remarks

Recent Examples on the Web

And there is very little reason for Israel or the U.S. to think that a reconstituted Iran will become more conciliatory toward either country once the war ends. —Shervin Malekzadeh, Mercury News, 26 June 2025

For his part, Schumer appeared to acknowledge Mamdani's momentum with a conciliatory post on X the day after the election. —Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 June 2025

To that point, though, some are also questioning whether Newsom’s effort to shift gears between conciliatory and confrontational with Trump could be a political liability moving forward. —Julia Mueller, The Hill, 21 June 2025

In recent days, Musk has taken a conciliatory approach. —Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 13 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1576, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for conciliatory

• accusatory
• admonitory
• ambulatory
• amendatory
• celebratory
• circulatory
• combinatory
• commendatory
• compensatory
• condemnatory
• confirmatory
• confiscatory

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