Definition of conciliatory
: 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
