Meaning & use
agree to disagree
Last updated
Meanings
verbintransitive
To accept that two people hold different opinions on a matter and stop arguing about it.
Grammar: No object; followed by on or about for the topic: agree to disagree about politics.
Patterns
- agree to disagree on something
- agree to disagree about something
We argued about the movie for an hour, then agreed to disagree.
Let us agree to disagree on which team is better.
After years of debate, the couple agreed to disagree about money.
verbintransitiveinformal
To end a disagreement politely without either side giving in, sometimes used to avoid conflict.
Grammar: Often said to close a conversation: we'll just have to agree to disagree.
Patterns
- have to agree to disagree
I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one.
At the family dinner, the two uncles agreed to disagree about the best route.
The managers agreed to disagree and moved on.
Word forms
| third person singular | agrees to disagree |
|---|---|
| past tense | agreed to disagree |
| past participle | agreed to disagree |
| -ing form | agreeing to disagree |
Common combinations
- agree to disagree on something
- They agreed to disagree on the budget.
- simply agree to disagree
- Sometimes you simply agree to disagree.
- have to agree to disagree
- We'll have to agree to disagree about pineapple on pizza.
- politely agree to disagree
- The panelists politely agreed to disagree.
- choose to agree to disagree
- The neighbors chose to agree to disagree about the fence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- drop the subject
- Drop the subject means stop talking about it, but it does not say that each side keeps its own view.
- call it a draw
- Call it a draw suggests a contest with no winner, a little more playful than agree to disagree.
- leave it there
- Leave it there ends a discussion more briefly and does not mention the disagreement.
- compromise
- Compromise means each side gives something up, whereas agreeing to disagree means nobody does.
Opposites
Word family
- agree verb
- to have the same opinion
- disagree verb
- to have a different opinion
- disagreement noun
- a situation in which people hold different opinions
- agreement noun
- a shared decision or opinion
Commonly confused: agree to disagree or agree to differ?
agree to disagree vs agree to differ
Agree to differ is a British variant with the same meaning and is a little more old-fashioned.
Practice
We cannot convince each other about which restaurant is best, so let's ____ and order anyway.
Choose one answer.
Agree to disagree is the fixed expression. The other options change its pattern and are not natural English.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “agree to disagree”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.