appease

Definitions

ap- (a form of ad-, 'to') + pease (from Latin pāx, 'peace') = 'to bring to peace.' It came through Old French apaisier, which is why it keeps the 'peace/pease' shape instead of 'pac.' To appease is to calm someone by satisfying their demands — and that note of 'giving in' is what tips it toward the negative sense of appeasement.

Why It Means This

appease carries a moral shadow that pacify and placate don't. Because it means calming someone by giving in to them, it became the key word of 1930s politics: 'appeasement' was the policy of conceding to Hitler's demands to avoid war — a strategy now remembered as a costly failure. So while you can neutrally appease a hungry crowd with food, calling a leader's foreign policy 'appeasement' is almost always an accusation of weakness.

Common Collocations

• 1.appease an aggressor姑息侵略者
• 2.appease critics安抚批评者
• 3.appease someone's anger平息某人的怒气
• 4.a gesture to appease安抚性的姿态

Example Sentences

• 1.

  He offered a discount to appease the dissatisfied customer.

• 2.

  The government made concessions to appease the strikers.

• 3.

  Critics argue that appeasing the dictator only made him bolder.

Synonym Comparison