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

Inaba and Hough offered each other conciliatory smiles before the remaining judges carried on with their comments. —Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 22 Oct. 2025

Here, women played a conciliatory role. —Time, 21 Oct. 2025

Saft deplores this conciliatory blandness. —Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025

As Shiva, Afshari is a revelation of steely resolve, a pragmatist who holds fast to her conciliatory principles until a final scene that pushes her capacity for mercy to its limits. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 14 Oct. 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