appeasement - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ap·pease

Audio Help [uh-peez] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object), -peased, -peas·ing.

1.	to bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; pacify; soothe: to appease an angry king.

2.	to satisfy, allay, or relieve; assuage: The fruit appeased his hunger.

3.	to yield or concede to the belligerent demands of (a nation, group, person, etc.) in a conciliatory effort, sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles.

[Origin: 1300–50; ME apesen < AF apeser, OF apais(i)er, equiv. to a- a-⁵ + paisi- peace + -er inf. suffix

]

—Related forms

ap·peas·a·ble, adjective

ap·peas·a·ble·ness, noun

ap·peas·a·bly, adverb

ap·pease·ment, noun

ap·peas·er, noun

ap·peas·ing·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. calm, placate. 3. Appease, conciliate, propitiate imply trying to preserve or obtain peace. To appease is to make anxious overtures and often undue concessions to satisfy the demands of someone with a greed for power, territory, etc.: Chamberlain tried to appease Hitler at Munich. To conciliate is to win an enemy or opponent over by displaying a willingness to be just and fair: When mutual grievances are recognized, conciliation is possible. To propitiate is to admit a fault, and, by trying to make amends, to allay hostile feeling: to propitiate an offended neighbor.

—Antonyms 1. enrage. 2. increase, arouse, sharpen. 3. defy.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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appeasement

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ap·pease·ment Audio Help (ə-pēz'mənt) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. An act of appeasing.
2. The condition of being appeased.
The policy of granting concessions to potential enemies to maintain peace.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

appeasement
noun
the act of appeasing (as by acceding to the demands of)

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
appeasement

A political policy of conceding to aggression by a warlike nation.

Note: A classic example of appeasement is the Munich Pact of 1938, negotiated between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler. Chamberlain, the prime minister of Britain, allowed Hitler to annex part of Czechoslovakia to Germany.

[Chapter:] World Politics

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Appeasement

Ap*pease"ment\, n. The act of appeasing, or the state of being appeased; pacification. --Hayward.

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