Skip to content
GREMockTests
GRE vocabulary

appease

verbHigh-frequency wordMore A words

to pacify someone by giving in to demands

Word origin: From Old French apaisier, to bring to peace (a- to plus pais peace).

Test your vocabulary in a real test Full-length · no signup · instant score
In a sentence

Appease in a sentence

Here are example sentences showing appease in a sentence.

The company offered refunds to appease its angry customers.

The board offered a modest concession to appease the shareholders threatening to revolt.

Antonyms
provokeantagonizeincite
Usage & nuance

Using “appease” well

Appease means to calm someone by yielding to their demands, often with a connotation of unprincipled concession. In political contexts it can imply giving in to an aggressor.

Common questions

Questions about “appease

Appease (verb) means to pacify someone by giving in to demands
Here is appease used in an example sentence: "The company offered refunds to appease its angry customers." Another example: "The board offered a modest concession to appease the shareholders threatening to revolt."
Common synonyms for appease include placate, mollify, pacify.
Antonyms of appease include provoke, antagonize, incite.
Appease clusters with placate, mollify, and pacify in Sentence Equivalence. Its antonyms provoke, antagonize, and incite signal stirring up rather than calming.
Yes. Appease is a high-frequency GRE word, so it is worth prioritising as you build your vocabulary.

See these words the way the GRE tests them.

Definitions in isolation do not stick. Sit a free, full-length GRE mock and meet this vocabulary inside real text completion and sentence equivalence questions, with your score and a worked solution for every answer.