transitive verb
-·cat·ed, -·cat·ing to stop from being angry; appease; pacify; mollify
Origin of placate
from Classical Latin placatus, past participle of placare, to appease: see please
verb
Placate is defined as to soothe someone who is angry or upset by making concessions.
Buying a crying baby a stuffed animal at a store is an example of placate.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"placate." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/placate>.
APA Style
placate. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/placate
placate
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"placate." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/placate>.
APA Style
placate. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/placate
placate
transitive verb
pla·cat·ed, pla·cat·ing, pla·catesTo allay the anger of, especially by making concessions; appease. See Synonyms at pacify.
Origin of placate
Latin plācāre plācāt- to calm ; see plāk-1 in Indo-European roots.Related Forms:
- pla′cat′er
noun
- pla·ca′tion
noun
- pla′ca·to′ry pla′ca′tive
adjective
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"placate." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/placate>.
APA Style
placate. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/placate
Verb
(third-person singular simple present placates, present participle placating, simple past and past participle placated)
Origin
From Latin plÄcÄtus, past participle of plÄcÅ (“appease, placate", literally “smooth, smoothen"), from Proto-Indo-European *plÄk- (“smooth, flat"), from Proto-Indo-European *pele- (“broad, flat, plain"). Related to Latin placeÅ (“appease"), Old English flÅh (“flat stone, chip"). More at please.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"placate." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/placate>.
APA Style
placate. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/placate
Sentence Examples
- I don't need you to placate me!
- She sensed nothing she could say would placate him.
- Maybe the need to placate his father had spawned the decision to call off the divorce.
- When he enforced his claim to the crown of Portugal (1579-1581) he preferred to placate his new subjects by paying attention to their feelings and their privileges.
- Everything considered, it was easier to make the decision to take the job than to placate Mary.
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