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Definition of pacify verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

pacify

verb
 
/ˈpæsɪfaɪ/
 
/ˈpæsɪfaɪ/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they pacify
 
/ˈpæsɪfaɪ/
 
/ˈpæsɪfaɪ/
he / she / it pacifies
 
/ˈpæsɪfaɪz/
 
/ˈpæsɪfaɪz/
past simple pacified
 
/ˈpæsɪfaɪd/
 
/ˈpæsɪfaɪd/
past participle pacified
 
/ˈpæsɪfaɪd/
 
/ˈpæsɪfaɪd/
-ing form pacifying
 
/ˈpæsɪfaɪɪŋ/
 
/ˈpæsɪfaɪɪŋ/
jump to other results
  1. pacify somebody to make somebody who is angry or upset become calm and quiet synonym placate
    • The baby could not be pacified.
    • The speech was designed to pacify the irate crowd.
  2. pacify something to bring peace to an area where there is fighting or a war
    • a turbulent period before the country was pacified
    Topics War and conflictc2
  3. Word Originlate 15th cent. (earlier (late Middle English) as pacification): from Old French pacefier, from Latin pacificare, based on pax, pac- ‘peace’.
See pacify in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
previously
adverb
 
 
From the Word list
Oxford 3000
B1
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