Appease | Definition of appease by Merriam-Webster

Full Definition of APPEASE

transitive verb

1

: to bring to a state of peace or quiet : calm

2

: to cause to subside : allay <appeased my hunger>

3

: pacify, conciliate; especially : to buy off (an aggressor) by concessions usually at the sacrifice of principles

— ap·peas·able \-ˈpē-zə-bəl\ adjective

— ap·pease·ment \-ˈpēz-mənt\ noun

— ap·peas·er noun

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Examples of APPEASE

But I imagine he and his siblings, who profited handsomely from the sale, have mixed emotions. They may be sad they had to sell, yet relieved that they are no longer under pressure to appease Wall Street's demand for growth and profits. —James Laube, Wine Spectator, 31 Mar. 2005
The first is that, in affluent America, mothering has gone from an art to a cult, with devotees driving themselves to ever more baroque extremes to appease the goddess of perfect motherhood. —Judith Shulevitz, New York Times Book Review, 20 Feb. 2005
It was last summer, and Gingell, then Sun Microsystems's chief software engineer, had an excuse: His twin-engine Cessna had broken down, and he'd lost track of time while he gabbed on the phone with his mechanic. That wasn't likely to appease Sun's famously tart-tongued CEO, Scott McNealy, who was getting his introductory briefing on a vital new technology initiative that happened to be Gingell's brainchild. —Erick Schonfeld, Business 2.0, September 2002
The California legislature's solution to this seemingly intractable problem was a politically appealing package with features to appease both utility investors and ratepayers. —Benjamin A. Holden, Wall Street Journal, 19 Feb. 1997
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Origin of APPEASE

Middle English appesen, from Anglo-French apeser, apaiser, from a- (from Latin ad-) + pais peace — more at peace

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to APPEASE

Synonyms: pacify, assuage, conciliate, disarm, gentle, mollify, placate, propitiate

Antonyms: anger, enrage, incense, inflame (also enflame), infuriate, ire, madden, outrage

Synonym Discussion of APPEASE

pacify, appease, placate, mollify, propitiate, conciliate mean to ease the anger or disturbance of. pacify suggests a soothing or calming <pacified by a sincere apology>. appease implies quieting insistent demands by making concessions <appease their territorial ambitions>. placate suggests changing resentment or bitterness to goodwill <a move to placate local opposition>. mollify implies soothing hurt feelings or rising anger <a speech that mollified the demonstrators>. propitiate implies averting anger or malevolence especially of a superior being <propitiated his parents by dressing up>. conciliate suggests ending an estrangement by persuasion, concession, or settling of differences <conciliating the belligerent nations>.