placating 1 of 2

adjective

as in appeasing
tending to lessen or avoid conflict or hostility a placating comment that seemed to calm everyone down a bit

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

placating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of placate
as in comforting
to lessen the anger or agitation of attempted to placate the screaming child by offering him a cookie

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 placating
Verb
Too few sun loungers for the 116 rooms mean the charming pool staff are endlessly placating displaced and disgruntled sunbathers. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Oct. 2026 But now these same firms have to navigate maintaining ties with the president while placating Democrats who could very well control both houses of Congress next year. — Ashley Gold, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026 In hopes of placating his daughters, Andrew bought Lizzie and Emma a home to rent out, per American Heritage. — Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026 Andy Burnham’s balancing act Rising costs also add to the pressure on new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who has pledged to tackle the cost-of-living burden but is also tasked with balancing the public books and placating the bond market. — Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 16 Sep. 2026 From the theorist’s vantage, the narrator’s couches will always be placating. — Maya Binyam, New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2026 Scam Buster is a bot that will reply to scammers in your inbox, placating them with the same social engineering tactics that scammers use, such as impersonation, flattery, and urgent messaging. — Kim Key, PC Magazine, 8 Aug. 2026 The note is there when Sugar gets back, placating his suspicions (for now) and deflating his ego. — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 10 July 2026 Putin has struggled to manage fighting Kyiv on the one hand and placating domestic constituencies on the other. — Anna Nemtsova, Time, 23 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for placating
  1. conciliatory
  2. appeasing
  3. soothing
  4. comforting
  5. benevolent
  6. pacific
  7. peaceful
  8. calming
Adjective
  • Adams, usually so conciliatory, plainly voices her disgust with the unethical Mexican clinic which gave McQueen false hope, and side-eyes his late-in-life turn to Christianity.
    — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 20 Oct. 2026
  • For her part, the polarizing Molokoane — who has faced calls for her resignation from industry bodies — struck a conciliatory tone in Durban.
    — Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of conciliatory
Verb
  • The bill now also includes a compromise on stablecoin yield aimed at appeasing banking interests by directing the Treasury secretary to restrict rewards if deposit flight from community banks occurs on a substantial scale.
    — Garrett Downs, CNBC, 14 Sep. 2026
  • In 1938, British, French, German and Italian leaders concluded the Munich Agreement, which was aimed at appeasing Adolf Hitler by allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of appeasing
Adjective
  • The recipe calls for plenty of seaweed, rich in nourishing minerals, and is deeply soothing and hydrating.
    — Trinity Mouzon Wofford, Bon Appetit Magazine, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Cool lighting can appear brighter and attention-grabbing, but warm lighting is more soothing on the eyes.
    — Will Greenwald, PC Magazine, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of soothing
Adjective
  • The songs, decorations and rituals that once felt comforting can quietly tie themselves to painful experiences in your brain, which is why familiar cues sometimes trigger sadness instead of joy.
    — Ashley Lynch, Sacbee.com, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Maque Choux Easily made with fresh or frozen sweet corn, this creamy Creole dish is a fast, comforting weeknight dinner.
    — Hannah Agran, Midwest Living, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of comforting
Adjective
  • Larger-than-life Halloween celebrations rise up every October like the Great Pumpkin (or a benevolent spooky spirit or two) to captivate visitors with parades, caramel apples, costume contests, and more.
    — Michelle Mastro, Midwest Living, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Promotional images and films conjured a playful, adaptable and benevolent house — plastic as the building block of family happiness.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of benevolent
Adjective
  • The majority of the industry’s bycatch is jellyfish, pacific cod, and squid.
    — Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026
  • National Aquarium cams The National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, operates a series of cameras of marine animals, including reef sharks, jellyfish and fish in a Pacific coral reef.
    — Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 1 June 2026
Definition of pacific
Adjective
  • So on Wednesday, after a full day of quiet, more people than usual were out on the streets in Kherson, enjoying the short glimpse of peaceful life, though many said the calm still felt unsettling.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Almost two hours after polling stations closed, Vucic addressed the nation, confirming his defeat and announcing the peaceful transfer of power.
    — Chris Massaro, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of peaceful
Adjective
  • The calming, tone-on-tone abstract paintings upstairs and downstairs are by the British painter Susan Gunn.
    — Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 23 Oct. 2026
  • While tree hugging isn’t typically my thing, the experience was unexpectedly grounding and deeply calming.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of calming

Browse Nearby Words

placates
placating
placative
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Placating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/placating. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of Pyrrhic

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All