acquiesce

Synonym Chooser

How is the word acquiesce distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of acquiesce are accede, agree, assent, consent, and subscribe. While all these words mean "to concur with what has been proposed," acquiesce implies tacit acceptance or forbearance of opposition.

acquiesced to his boss's wishes

When is it sensible to use accede instead of acquiesce?

The words accede and acquiesce can be used in similar contexts, but accede implies a yielding, often under pressure, of assent or consent.

officials acceded to the prisoners' demands

When would agree be a good substitute for acquiesce?

Although the words agree and acquiesce have much in common, agree sometimes implies previous difference of opinion or attempts at persuasion.

finally agreed to come along

When could assent be used to replace acquiesce?

The meanings of assent and acquiesce largely overlap; however, assent implies an act involving the understanding or judgment and applies to propositions or opinions.

voters assented to the proposal

When is consent a more appropriate choice than acquiesce?

While the synonyms consent and acquiesce are close in meaning, consent involves the will or feelings and indicates compliance with what is requested or desired.

consented to their daughter's going

When can subscribe be used instead of acquiesce?

While in some cases nearly identical to acquiesce, subscribe implies not only consent or assent but hearty approval and active support.

subscribes wholeheartedly to the idea

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of acquiesce Once all parties had acquiesced, the head of the FCC joined the president in taking a victory lap. Jason Bailey, Mercury News, 20 Sep. 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Experts contend that the indefinite cancellation—barring a personal donation and public apology to the Kirks and Turning Point USA— is part of the Administration's growing pattern of intimidation, which many media leaders have responded to by acquiescing to demands. Solcyré Burga, Time, 18 Sep. 2025 Emails between Epstein’s lawyers and federal prosecutors obtained by the Herald showed that Epstein’s lawyers repeatedly made demands and that federal prosecutors acquiesced each step of the way. Julie K. Brown, Miami Herald, 18 Sep. 2025 Punish the owners who resist and reward the ones who acquiesce. Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for acquiesce
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acquiesce
Verb
  • Licensed psychotherapist Lucas Saiter agreed that a decline in crushes is common in adulthood.
    Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Oct. 2025
  • Reasonable people from all sides of the current AI conversation agree that this particular paradigm shift is just different.
    Nick Tzitzon, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • China has built Russia’s defense industrial base, helped Iran provide Russia with one-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles, and assented as North Korea has sent troops to fight in Europe.
    Kurt M. Campbell, Foreign Affairs, 10 Apr. 2025
  • His representatives soon assented to de Moraes’s orders, including taking down the offending accounts and paying the fines.
    Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Currently, children as young as 12 years old must consent to share online medical records with their parents.
    Jessie Balmert, Cincinnati Enquirer, 15 Oct. 2025
  • But as Sora sits atop the iOS App Store with over 1 million downloads, experts worry about its potential to deluge the internet with historical misinformation and deepfakes of deceased historical figures who cannot consent to or opt out of Sora’s AI models.
    Jared Perlo, NBC news, 12 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Albania has been on a mission to root out corruption for the past decade, embarking on a widespread vetting process of every judge in the country, and creating specialized anti-corruption bodies to prosecute graft, to improve its chance of acceding to the European Union.
    Tharin Pillay, Time, 10 Oct. 2025
  • But as his relentless pressure on allies becomes the new normal, those allies have every reason to adapt to protect themselves rather than accede to his demands.
    Vivek Viswanathan, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Acquiesce.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acquiesce. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.

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