placate
to calm an angry person
TRANSLATION
placate = besänftigen, beschwichtigen, versöhnlich stimmen
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"Tony Blair also has several pressing reasons for supporting an invasion. By appeasing George Bush, he PLACATES Britain's rightwing press. Standing on Bush's shoulders, he can assert a claim to global leadership more credible than that of other European leaders,..."
(George Monbiot, The Guardian)
(George Monbiot, The Guardian)
Did you
know?
placate
verb
- to cause (someone) to feel less angry about something
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
---
Latin placatus, past participle of placare, to calm or soothe, related to related to placere "to please". In particular, we can calm someone by agreeing with what they say, or at least by doing what they wish.
Have you managed to calm someone down or to settle a disagreement? Well done! Use these idioms to celebrate.
- smooth (someone's) ruffled feathers = "Ruffled" means disorderly here, so when you stroke an angry bird to calm it down, you also put its feathers back into place. (The airline representative was able to smooth Ron's ruffled feathers by offering free flight miles)
- hold out the olive branch = The olive branch has been a symbol of peace since ancient Greece, so here you are offering to make peace. (Let's hold out the olive branch to our competitor. Perhaps there's a way of working together)
- kiss and make up = When we "make up", we settle an argument. What better way than with a kiss? Although in business you might prefer to "shake hands and make up". (Following their loud dispute in the meeting room, Simon and Richard shook hands and made up)
---
SYNONYMS
appease, soothe, mollify, calm someone down, satisfy, pacify
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION
"Can you try and placate Jim? He's furious about insecurities in our IT system."
verb
- to cause (someone) to feel less angry about something
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
---
Latin placatus, past participle of placare, to calm or soothe, related to related to placere "to please". In particular, we can calm someone by agreeing with what they say, or at least by doing what they wish.
Have you managed to calm someone down or to settle a disagreement? Well done! Use these idioms to celebrate.
- smooth (someone's) ruffled feathers = "Ruffled" means disorderly here, so when you stroke an angry bird to calm it down, you also put its feathers back into place. (The airline representative was able to smooth Ron's ruffled feathers by offering free flight miles)
- hold out the olive branch = The olive branch has been a symbol of peace since ancient Greece, so here you are offering to make peace. (Let's hold out the olive branch to our competitor. Perhaps there's a way of working together)
- kiss and make up = When we "make up", we settle an argument. What better way than with a kiss? Although in business you might prefer to "shake hands and make up". (Following their loud dispute in the meeting room, Simon and Richard shook hands and made up)
---
SYNONYMS
appease, soothe, mollify, calm someone down, satisfy, pacify
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION
"Can you try and placate Jim? He's furious about insecurities in our IT system."
