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pacify

 
Dictionary: pac·i·fy   (păs'ə-fī') pronunciation
tr.v., -fied, -fy·ing, -fies.
  1. To ease the anger or agitation of.
  2. To end war, fighting, or violence in; establish peace in.

[Middle English pacifien, from Old French pacifier, from Latin pācificāre : pāx, pāc-, peace + -ficāre, -fy.]

pacifiable pac'i·fi'a·ble adj.

SYNONYMS   pacify, mollify, conciliate, appease, placate. These verbs refer to allaying another's anger, belligerence, discontent, or agitation. To pacify is to restore calm to or establish peace in: "The explanation . . . was merely an invention framed to pacify his guests" (Charlotte Brontë). An army was required in order to pacify the islands. Mollify stresses the soothing of hostile feelings: The therapist mollified the angry teenager by speaking gently. Conciliate implies winning over, often by reasoning and with mutual concessions: "A wise government knows how to enforce with temper or to conciliate with dignity" (George Grenville). Appease and placate suggest satisfying claims or demands or tempering antagonism, often by granting concessions: I appeased my friend's anger with a compliment. A sincere apology placated the indignant customer.


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Thesaurus: pacify
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verb

    To ease the anger or agitation of: appease, assuage, calm (down), conciliate, dulcify, gentle, mollify, placate, propitiate, soften, soothe, sweeten. Idioms: pour oil on troubled water. See calm/agitation.

Antonyms: pacify
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v

Definition: make peaceful; appease
Antonyms: agitate, enrage, incite, inflame, irritate, upset


v. -ies, -ied bring peace to (a country or warring factions), especially by the use or threatened use of military force: the general pacified northern Italy.

pacification n. pacificatory adj.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Word Tutor: pacify
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: To make peaceful or quiet.

pronunciation The gentle rocking and melodious singing helped pacify the crying baby.

Translations: Pacify
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Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - berolige, formilde, stille tilfreds

Nederlands (Dutch)
rust/vrede herstellen, tot bedaren brengen

Français (French)
v. tr. - (gén) apaiser, (Mil, Pol) pacifier

Deutsch (German)
v. - befrieden, besänftigen, beruhigen

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - ειρηνεύω, καθησυχάζω

Italiano (Italian)
tranquillizzare, calmare, sedare

Português (Portuguese)
v. - pacificar, acalmar

Русский (Russian)
умиротворить, успокоить

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - pacificar, apaciguar, calmar

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - pacificera, återställa freden (lugnet), lugna ned, stilla, blidka, beveka

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
使平静, 绥靖, 安慰

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 實現和平, 使平靜, 綏靖, 安慰

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 달래다, 진정시키다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 静める, なだめる, 平和を回復する, 静まる, 和らぐ, 鎮定する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يهديء‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮הרגיע, השכין שלום‬


 
 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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