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pacify definition

paci·fy (pasə 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.

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"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

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