placate
Definitions
To make a person less angry or hostile, especially by doing something to please them.
安抚，平息（怒气），使息怒。
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedplac (from plācāre, 'to calm, appease') + -ate (verb suffix, 'to make') = 'to make calm.' To placate someone is to offer something pleasing — an apology, a concession — that takes the heat out of their anger.
Root plac still carries 14 more wordsCommon Collocations
- 1.placate someone's anger平息某人的怒火
- 2.placate critics安抚批评者
- 3.attempt to placate试图安抚
- 4.placate the crowd安抚人群
Example Sentences
- 1.
The company offered refunds to placate angry customers.
- 2.
He tried to placate his wife with flowers and an apology.
- 3.
Nothing the manager said could placate the furious crowd.
Synonym Comparison
- placate — calm someone's anger, often with a concession; implies they were upset
- appease — give in to demands to avoid conflict, often with a negative ring (appease an aggressor)
- pacify — make peaceful, broader; can apply to a crying child or a region
- mollify — soften someone's hurt feelings or anger, gentler and more personal
- conciliate — win someone over and restore goodwill, more mutual