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placate Definition

pla·cate (plākāt′, plā kāt; also plakāt′)

transitive verb -·cat′ed, -·cat′·ing

to stop from being angry; appease

Etymology: < L placatus, pp. of placare, to appease: see please

placate Related Forms

pla·cat′er noun pla·ca·tion noun pla·ca·tive (plākāt′iv, -kət-; plakāt′-) adjective pla·ca·to′ry adjective

placate Synonyms

placate

v.

pacify, mollify, appease; see pacify 1, quiet 1, satisfy 1, 3. See syn. study at pacify.

placate Usage Examples

Object

  • god: The Canaanites had many gods and they ran here, there and everywhere to placate these gods.
  • people: This simply played into Le Pen's hand, by trying to placate people he convinced them there was a problem.
  • anger: We cannot placate the righteous anger of God because we have no means by which to do so.
  • opposition: The regulations imposed in the West to placate environmental opposition to GM foods effectively prevent the Third World from developing GM foods.
  • union: However his statement did little to placate the unions who say that even negotiations cannot help in this matter.
  • lobby: The government has a greater imperative to placate the farming lobby than protect wildlife because of its political leverage.

Modifying Another Word

  • not: He need not placate, overpower, or escape his torturers.
  • just: She told me her husband tried to reassure her, but that she thought he was just placating her.
  • well: She was well placated when he did go on to choose Marley.

Browse dictionary entries near placate

  1. placard
  2. placable
  3. Pléiade
  4. pl
  5. Pkwy
  6. PKU
  7. pkt
  8. PKM
  9. PKI
  10. pkg
  1. place
  2. place card
  3. place mat
  4. place setting
  5. place value
  6. placebo
  7. placebo effect
  8. placed
  9. placekick
  10. placeman