placate

First attested in the late 17^th century; borrowed from Latin plācātus, perfect passive participle of plācō (“appease, placate”, literally “smooth, smoothen”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more), ultimately thought to be from Proto-Indo-European *plāk- (“smooth, flat”), from *pele- (“broad, flat, plain”). Related to Latin placeō (“appease”), Old English flōh (“flat stone, chip”). More at please.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pləˈkeɪt/, /pleɪˈkeɪt/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpleɪkeɪt/, /pleɪˈkeɪt/

  • Audio (California):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /pləˈkeɪt/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪt

placate (third-person singular simple present placates, present participle placating, simple past and past participle placated)

1. (transitive) To calm; to bring peace to; to influence someone who was furious to the point that they become content or at least no longer irate.

   Synonyms: pacify, appease, assuage, soothe, conciliate, mollify, propitiate, satisfy

   Antonym: enrage

   • 1896, Joseph Conrad, An Outcast of the Islands, London: T. Fisher Unwin […], →OCLC:

     The gleam of the light on the paper placated his professional anger, and he wrote rapidly, the final dash of his signature curling the paper up in a triangular tear.

   • 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC:

     To-day a deity who should require bleeding sacrifices to placate him would be too sanguinary to be taken seriously.

   • 1906 May–October, Jack London, White Fang, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC:

     They turned their shoulders to her most savage slashes, and with wagging tails and mincing steps strove to placate her wrath.

   • 1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC:

     For the rest of the term he tormented Philip cruelly, and, though Philip tried to keep out of his way, the school was so small that it was impossible; he tried being friendly and jolly with him; he abased himself, so far as to buy him a knife; but though Singer took the knife he was not placated.

   • 1916, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 3, in Jungle Tales of Tarzan‎^[1], A. C. McClurg:

     Here he again approached Teeka only to be again greeted with bared fangs and menacing growls. He sought to placate her; he urged his friendly intentions, and craned his neck to have a look at Teeka’s balu; but the she-ape was not to be persuaded that he meant other than harm to her little one.

   • 2025 December 23, Michael M. Grynbaum, “‘60 Minutes’ Report Was Pulled Off the Air. Now It’s on the Internet.”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     Her [Bari Weiss's] critics — including the “60 Minutes” correspondent who reported the segment, Sharyn Alfonsi — saw it as an attempt by CBS to placate the administration.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

placate (comparative more placate, superlative most placate)

1. (rare, obsolete) Placid, peaceful.
   • 1662, William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour:

     When are you more placate and serene?

• epactal

placate

1. inflection of placare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative
   3. feminine plural past participle

• catalpe

plācāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of plācō

• “placate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “placate”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “placate”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

placate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of placar combined with te