appeasement
verb (used with object), ap·peased, ap·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
1300–50; Middle English apesen < Anglo-French apeser, Old French apais(i)er, equivalent to a- a-5 + paisi- peace + -er infinitive 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
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
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.
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.
1. enrage. 2. increase, arouse, sharpen. 3. defy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To appeasement
00:10
Appeasement
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
appease (əˈpiːz) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to calm, pacify, or soothe, esp by acceding to the demands of |
| 2. | to satisfy or quell (an appetite or thirst, etc) |
| [C16: from Old French apaisier, from pais peace, from Latin pax] | |
| ap'peasable | |
| —adj | |
| ap'peaser | |
| —n | |
| 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
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
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."
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).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
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.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com
Nearby Words
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
