Nearby Words

appeasement

[uh-peez] Origin

ap·pease

[uh-peez]
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; Middle English apesen < Anglo-French apeser, Old French apais(i)er, equivalent to a- a-5 + paisi- peace + -er infinitive suffix

ap·peas·a·ble, adjective
ap·peas·a·ble·ness, noun
ap·peas·a·bly, adverb
ap·pease·ment, noun
ap·peas·er, noun
EXPAND
ap·peas·ing·ly, adverb
non·ap·peas·a·ble, adjective
non·ap·peas·ing, adjective
un·ap·peas·a·ble, adjective
un·ap·peas·a·b·ly, adverb
un·ap·peased, adjective
un·ap·peas·ing, adjective
un·ap·peas·ing·ly, adverb
COLLAPSE


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.


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

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Appeasement is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
Collins
World English Dictionary
appeasement (əˈpiːzmənt)
 
n
1.  the policy of acceding to the demands of a potentially hostile nation in the hope of maintaining peace
2.  the act of appeasing

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

appease
early 14c., from O.Fr. apaiser, apeser "to pacify, make peace, appease, be reconciled, placate" (12c.), from the phrase a paisier "bring to peace," from a- "to" + pais, from L. pacem (nom. pax) "peace."
EXPAND

appeasement
early 15c., from O.Fr. apaisement "appeasement, calming," noun of action from apaisier (see appease). First recorded 1919 in international political sense; not pejorative until failure of Chamberlain's policy toward Germany in 1939 (Methods of appeasement was Chamberlain's
description of his policy).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

appeasement definition


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.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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