Meaning & use
appeasing
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Meant to calm an angry or demanding person, usually by giving them something or agreeing with them.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: an appeasing gesture; his tone was appeasing.
Patterns
- an appeasing gesture
- an appeasing tone
She spoke in an appeasing tone to calm the angry customer.
The mayor made an appeasing offer to the protesters.
His appeasing smile did nothing to ease her annoyance.
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Giving in to the demands of a hostile person or country in order to avoid conflict, seen as weak.
Grammar: Often critical, especially in politics and history writing.
Patterns
- an appeasing policy
Critics condemned the appeasing policy as a sign of weakness.
The leader was accused of an appeasing attitude toward the aggressor.
Word forms
| comparative | more appeasing |
|---|---|
| superlative | most appeasing |
Common combinations
- appeasing tone
- He used an appeasing tone to calm the argument.
- appeasing gesture
- An appeasing gesture, such as a free coffee, helped win the customer back.
- appeasing words
- Her appeasing words did not convince the crowd.
- appeasing smile
- With an appeasing smile, the waiter replaced the dish.
- appeasing policy
- The appeasing policy failed to stop the conflict.
Synonyms and how they differ
- conciliatory
- Conciliatory is more formal and suggests a sincere effort to make peace, whereas appeasing often implies giving in.
- placating
- Placating describes calming someone's anger, with less of the political weakness suggested by appeasing.
- soothing
- Soothing means comforting and gentle, with no suggestion of giving in to demands.
- pacifying
- Pacifying stresses bringing calm, often to a group or crowd, and is slightly more neutral than appeasing.
Opposites
Word family
- appease verb
- to calm someone by giving in to them
- appeasement noun
- the policy of giving in to avoid conflict
- appeaser noun
- a person who appeases others
- appeasable adjective
- able to be calmed
Commonly confused: appeasing or appealing?
appeasing vs appealing
Appealing means attractive or interesting, while appeasing means calming someone by giving in. The spelling and meaning both differ.
Practice
The manager offered an ______ gesture, a free dessert, to calm the upset diners.
Choose one answer.
Appeasing describes an act meant to calm someone upset. Appealing means attractive, appalling means shocking and appraising means judging.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “appeasing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.