ˈpasəˌfī transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English pacifien, from Latin pacificare, from pac-, pax peace + -ificare -ify — more at peace
1.
a. : to allay anger or agitation : placate , soothe
bought the weeping child a lollipop to pacify her
b. : to make benign or amicable : appease , propitiate
such concessions would pacify the Chinese Communist leaders — W.V.Shannon
2.
a. : to restore to a tranquil state : quiet , settle
throws the four of them … into a violent emotional upheaval not to be pacified until one of them dies — Charles Lee
b. : to reduce to a submissive state especially by force of arms : subdue
U.S. Marines … went in as early as 1910 to pacify the country — Time
Synonyms:
appease , placate , mollify , propitiate , conciliate : pacify indicates a soothing or calming of anger, grievance, or agitation, or the quelling of insurrection especially by force
seeing his mounting rage, friends did all they could to pacify and restrain him
second-grade troops, useful mainly to occupy parts of the country that have already been pacified — Brian Crozier
appease may indicate the quieting of agitation or insistent demand by the making of concessions
open in manner, easy of access, a little quick of temper but readily appeased — John Buchan
he is utterly and absolutely implacable; no prayers, no human sacrifices can ever for one moment appease his cold, malignant rage — L.P.Smith
a frantic effort to appease mounting discontent at home — Paul Willen
placate is sometimes interchangeable with appease but may imply a more lasting assuagement of bitter feeling
each and every new route projected was liable to drastic alteration to placate local opposition — O.S.Nock
federal officials who try to placate witch-hunting Congressmen — New Republic
mollify stresses softening or abatement of agitation, through mitigating circumstance
mollified when they heard that the patio, with its famous cottonwood tree, will be left intact — Green Peyton
propitiate may refer to averting the anger or malevolence or winning the favor of a superior or of one possessing the power to injure greatly
propitiate this far-shooting Apollo — George Grote
Aunty Rosa, he argued, had the power to beat him with many stripes … it would be discreet in the future to propitiate Aunty Rosa — Rudyard Kipling
the unlimited power of trustees to abuse their trust unless they are abjectly propitiated — H.G.Wells
conciliate may be used of situations in which an estrangement or dispute is settled by arbitration or compromise
policy of conciliating and amalgamating conquered nations — Agnes Repplier
instinctively friendly and wholly free from inflammatory rhetoric, he did much to conciliate more stubborn Northern sentiment concerning the South — F.P.Gaines