pacify
VERB:
1. to bring or restore to a state of peace or tranquillity; quiet; calm:
to pacify an angry man.
2. to appease:
to pacify one's appetite.
3. to reduce to a state of submission, especially by military force; subdue.
4. to calm the anger or agitation of; mollify.
5. to restore to peace or order, esp by the threat or use of force.
6. to allay the anger or agitation of; soothe:
pacify a crying child.
7. appease, propitiate:
tried to pacify the enemy with compromises.
8. to restore to a tranquil state; settle:
made an attempt to pacify the commotion.
9. to reduce to a submissive state; subdue:
forces moved in to pacify the country.
Examples:
She resigned from her position to pacify her accusers. // Their efforts to pacify the nation by force failed.
Synonyms:
appease, assuage, conciliate, disarm, gentle, mollify, placate, propitiate, soothe.
Related Words:
allay, ameliorate, compose, dulcify, grease, lull, mitigate, placate, quell, repress, soften, square, still, stroke, subdue, tame.
Antonyms:
anger, enrage, incense, inflame (also enflame), infuriate, ire, madden, outrage.
Synonym Study (Merriam-Webster):
Pacify, appease, placate, mollify, propitiate, and conciliate mean to ease the anger or disturbance of.
Pacify suggests a soothing or calming:
pacified by a sincere apology.
Appease implies quieting insistent demands by making concessions:
appease their territorial ambitions.
Placate suggests changing resentment or bitterness to goodwill:
a move to placate local opposition.
Mollify implies soothing hurt feelings or rising anger:
a speech that mollified the demonstrators.
Propitiate implies averting anger or malevolence especially of a superior being:
propitiated his parents by dressing up.
Conciliate suggests ending an estrangement by persuasion, concession, or settling of differences:
conciliating the belligerent nations.
About pax (Merriam-Webster):
A parent who wants to win a little peace and quiet might give a fussy baby a pacifier. An employer seeking to avoid worker discontent might pay employees well. These actions may seem unrelated, but, etymologically speaking, they have a lot in common. Both "pacifier" and "pay" are ultimately derived from "pax," the Latin word for "peace." As you may have guessed, "pax" is also the source of our word peace. "Pacify" comes to us through Middle English "pacifien," from the Latin verb pacificare, which derives from "pax."
Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English < Latin pācificāre to make peace. See pacific, -fy. C15: from Old French pacifier; see pacific. —Dictionary.com. // First Known Use of pacify: 15th century. History and Etymology for pacify: Middle English pacifien, from Anglo-French pacifier, from Latin pacificare, from pac-, pax peace. —Merriam-Webster.
Sources: 1, 2.
Added: 1 July 2020 {6:36 PM}
1. to bring or restore to a state of peace or tranquillity; quiet; calm:
to pacify an angry man.
2. to appease:
to pacify one's appetite.
3. to reduce to a state of submission, especially by military force; subdue.
4. to calm the anger or agitation of; mollify.
5. to restore to peace or order, esp by the threat or use of force.
6. to allay the anger or agitation of; soothe:
pacify a crying child.
7. appease, propitiate:
tried to pacify the enemy with compromises.
8. to restore to a tranquil state; settle:
made an attempt to pacify the commotion.
9. to reduce to a submissive state; subdue:
forces moved in to pacify the country.
Examples:
She resigned from her position to pacify her accusers. // Their efforts to pacify the nation by force failed.
Synonyms:
appease, assuage, conciliate, disarm, gentle, mollify, placate, propitiate, soothe.
Related Words:
allay, ameliorate, compose, dulcify, grease, lull, mitigate, placate, quell, repress, soften, square, still, stroke, subdue, tame.
Antonyms:
anger, enrage, incense, inflame (also enflame), infuriate, ire, madden, outrage.
Synonym Study (Merriam-Webster):
Pacify, appease, placate, mollify, propitiate, and conciliate mean to ease the anger or disturbance of.
Pacify suggests a soothing or calming:
pacified by a sincere apology.
Appease implies quieting insistent demands by making concessions:
appease their territorial ambitions.
Placate suggests changing resentment or bitterness to goodwill:
a move to placate local opposition.
Mollify implies soothing hurt feelings or rising anger:
a speech that mollified the demonstrators.
Propitiate implies averting anger or malevolence especially of a superior being:
propitiated his parents by dressing up.
Conciliate suggests ending an estrangement by persuasion, concession, or settling of differences:
conciliating the belligerent nations.
About pax (Merriam-Webster):
A parent who wants to win a little peace and quiet might give a fussy baby a pacifier. An employer seeking to avoid worker discontent might pay employees well. These actions may seem unrelated, but, etymologically speaking, they have a lot in common. Both "pacifier" and "pay" are ultimately derived from "pax," the Latin word for "peace." As you may have guessed, "pax" is also the source of our word peace. "Pacify" comes to us through Middle English "pacifien," from the Latin verb pacificare, which derives from "pax."
Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English < Latin pācificāre to make peace. See pacific, -fy. C15: from Old French pacifier; see pacific. —Dictionary.com. // First Known Use of pacify: 15th century. History and Etymology for pacify: Middle English pacifien, from Anglo-French pacifier, from Latin pacificare, from pac-, pax peace. —Merriam-Webster.
Sources: 1, 2.
Added: 1 July 2020 {6:36 PM}