placate

pla·cate (plā′kāt′, plā kāt′; also plak′āt′)

transitive verb -·cat′ed, -·cat′·ing

to stop from being angry; appease

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

pla′·cat′er noun pla·ca′·tion noun pla·ca·tive (plā′kāt′iv, -kət-; plak′āt′-) adjective pla′·ca·to′ry adjective

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.

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