pacify Hear it!

pacify definition

paci·fy (pas′ə fī′)

transitive verb pacified -·fied′, pacifying -·fy′·ing

  1. to make peaceful or calm; appease; tranquilize
    1. to establish or secure peace in (a nation, etc.)
    2. ☆ to seek to neutralize or win over (people in occupied areas)

Etymology: ME pacifien < OFr pacefier < L pacificare < pax (gen. pacis), peace + facere, to make, do

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

pacify Synonyms

pacify

v.

  1. To mollify

    conciliate, appease, placate, mollify, propitiate, assuage, soothe, smooth over, calm, tranquilize, subdue, pour oil on troubled waters; see also quiet 1.

  2. To quiet

    soothe, silence, lull; see quiet 2.

pacify implies the making quiet, calm, and peaceful of someone or something that has become agitated, angry, or disorderly to pacify a crying child; appease suggests a pacifying by gratifying or giving in to the demands of to appease one's hunger; mollify suggests a soothing of wounded feelings or an allaying of indignation his compliments failed to mollify her; placate implies the changing of a hostile or angry attitude to a friendly or favorable one to placate an offended colleague; propitiate implies an allaying or forestalling of hostile feeling by winning the good will of sacrifices made to propitiate a deity; conciliate implies the use of arbitration, concession, persuasion, etc. in an attempt to win over


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

pacify Usage Examples

Object

  • crowd: Somehow, the Kaptain managed to pacify the crowd with a recitation of Nervous Norvus's ' Wild Dogs Of Kentucky ' .
pacify usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"pacify." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/pacify>

APA Style

pacify. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/pacify

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment