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Soothe Yourself With the History of Placate
The earliest documented uses of the verb placate in English date from the late 17th century. The word is derived from Latin placatus, the past participle of placare, and placate still carries the basic meaning of its Latin ancestor: "to soothe" or "to appease." Other placare descendants in English are implacable (meaning "not easily soothed or satisfied") and placation ("the act of soothing or appeasing"). Even please itself, derived from Latin placēre ("to please"), is a distant relative of placate.
Synonyms
Examples of placate in a Sentence
Jeremy Scahill, Nation, 2 Apr. 2007
The first step that women took in their emancipation was to adopt traditional male roles: to insist on their right to wear trousers, not to placate, not to smile, not to be decorative.
—Fay Weldon, Harper's, May 1998
These spirits inhabited natural objects, like rivers and mountains, including celestial bodies, like the sun and moon. They had to be placated and their favors sought in order to ensure the fertility of the soil and the rotation of the seasons.
—Stephen W. Hawking, A Brief History of Time, 1988
But it seems important to the Thunderbirds to make a big deal out of this; evidently it placates congressmen who don't think the Air Force should be in show biz.
—Frank Deford, Sports Illustrated, 3 Aug. 1987
The administration placated protesters by agreeing to consider their demands.
The angry customer was not placated by the clerk's apology.
Kate Wagner, Curbed, 21 Oct. 2024
Carving out the cable portfolio could placate Comcast investors by removing declining assets from the balance sheet.
—Alex Sherman, CNBC, 31 Oct. 2024
However, some details show how Microsoft is attempting to placate skeptical users.
—Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 27 Sep. 2024
So rather than call 911 for assistance, the woman experiencing the abuse may try to placate the abusive partner or calm the abusive partner by whatever means necessary.
—Patricia Fersch, Forbes, 5 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for placate 
Dictionary Entries Near placate
Cite this Entry
“Placate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/placate. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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