Adjacent Words

Appease definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

APPE'ASE, v.t. s as z. [L. pax. See Peace.]
To make quiet; to calm; to reduce to a state of peace; to still; to pacify; as, to appease the tumult of the ocean or of the passions; to appease hunger or thirst.
[This word is of a general application to every thing in a disturbed, ruffled or agitated state.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of; "She managed to mollify the angry customer" [syn: pacify, lenify, conciliate, assuage, appease, mollify, placate, gentle, gruntle]
2: overcome or allay; "quell my hunger" [syn: quell, stay, appease]
3: make peace with [syn: propitiate, appease]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (appeased; appeasing) Etymology: Middle English appesen, from Anglo-French apeser, apaiser, from a- (from Latin ad-) + pais peace — more at peace Date: 14th century 1. to bring to a state of peace or quiet ; calm 2. to cause to subside ; allay <appeased my hunger> 3. pacify, conciliate; especially to buy off (an aggressor) by concessions usually at the sacrifice of principles Synonyms: see pacify • appeasable adjective • appeasement noun • appeaser noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 make calm or quiet, esp. conciliate (a potential aggressor) by making concessions. 2 satisfy (an appetite, scruples). Derivatives: appeasement n. appeaser n. Etymology: ME f. AF apeser, OF apaisier f. à to + pais PEACE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Appease Ap*pease", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Appealed; p. pr. & vb. n. Appeasing.] [OE. apesen, apaisen, OF. apaisier, apaissier, F. apaiser, fr. a (L. ad) + OF. pais peace, F. paix, fr. L. pax, pacis. See Peace.] To make quiet; to calm; to reduce to a state of peace; to still; to pacify; to dispel (anger or hatred); as, to appease the tumult of the ocean, or of the passions; to appease hunger or thirst. Syn: To pacify; quiet; conciliate; propitiate; assuage; compose; calm; allay; hush; soothe; tranquilize.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(appeases, appeasing, appeased) If you try to appease someone, you try to stop them from being angry by giving them what they want. Gandhi was accused by some of trying to appease both factions of the electorate... = placate VERB: V n [disapproval]

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-pez': "To make one at peace." Esau is appeased, i.e. placated, won over by means of presents (Ge 32:20). One "slow to anger appeaseth strife," i.e. puts an end to it (Pr 15:18). the Revised Version (British and American) changes "appeased" of the King James Version in Ac 19:35 into "quieted" (Greek katastello, "put down," "suppress," "restrain," referring to a popular commotion).

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Pacify, calm, quiet, soothe, tranquillize, allay, assuage, mollify, alleviate, mitigate, abate, ease, compose, still, hush, lull, dull, quell, blunt, temper, attemper, lessen, qualify. 2. Propitiate, reconcile, satisfy, placate, make propitious, make favorable.

Moby Thesaurus

abate, allay, alleviate, anesthetize, assuage, benumb, calm, calm down, cater to, coddle, compose, conciliate, content, cool, cradle, cushion, deaden, deaden the pain, defuse, diminish, dulcify, dull, ease, ease matters, even out, extenuate, feast, feed, foment, gentle, give relief, gloss over, gratify, hush, immolate before, lay, lay the dust, lessen, lull, make propitiation, make sacrifice to, mitigate, mollify, numb, offer sacrifice, pacify, pad, palliate, pamper, placate, poultice, pour balm into, pour balm on, pour oil on, propitiate, quell, quench, quiet, reduce, regale, relieve, rest, rock, rock to sleep, sacrifice, salve, sate, satiate, satisfy, slacken, slake, smooth, smooth down, smooth over, smoothen, soften, soothe, spoil, stabilize, steady, still, stupe, subdue, sweeten, tranquilize, whitewash