1. Pacify Meaning

Pacify verb T (CALM) to cause someone who is angry or upset to be calm and satisfied: He pacified his crying child with a bottle. It was difficult for the police to pacify the angry crowd. Late 15th century (earlier (late Middle English) as pacification): from Old French pacefier, from Latin pacificare, based on pax, pac- ‘peace’.

transitive verbpacifies, pacifying, pacified

• 1Quell the anger, agitation, or excitement of.

  • ‘A plumber was stabbed in the chest and died within minutes when he tried to pacify an angry man armed with a knife outside a public house, a jury was told.’
  • ‘Even Mr Deshpande's apology failed to pacify him.’
  • ‘The traffic policeman, who arrives late, tries to pacify everyone.’
  • ‘It offered prize money and prestige, and largely succeeded in pacifying the warriors.’
  • ‘It began as a way of pacifying her when she was in a rare grumpy mood, and now it's the reason we go to Target.’
  • ‘Instead, the company has focused on ineffective and inconvenient security procedures for the sole purpose of pacifying the traveling public.’
  • ‘I managed to pacify her, eventually, with the aid of a little Carnation milk, and the starling got bored with being a telephone and went back to teasing the yellowhammer by imitating his song.’
  • ‘The Wakatipu giant was pacified, went back to sleep, and has been quiet ever since.’
  • ‘He sat among the children and pacified one agitated four year old who was taken aback by all the attention he was receiving.’
  • ‘He also pacified the agitated councillors by suggesting the formation of a core group in the council to take policy decisions.’
  • ‘‘Hey calm down’ I tried to pacify him, but before I knew it, I was up against the door, held at the collar.’
  • ‘And now there are also angry shareholders to pacify.’
  • ‘Apart from pacifying the residents with his assurances the mayor should also consider initiating some survival strategies like going into partnership with big cities of the world.’
  • ‘After having pacified the angry Lotus, Wang Lung finds a way to avoid sending Pear Blossom to the cousin.’
  • ‘Would you ever pacify angry clients by giving them extra hours at no charge?’
  • ‘In the film starring Paul Hogan, the hero uses his skills to pacify an angry water buffalo standing in the way of his vehicle.’
  • ‘A humble man, he decided to open Lakay to street children after wondering why he always gave them a few cents to pacify them instead of listening to their needs.’
  • ‘His early moves were a striking portent of the populist spending spree that was to follow, spiced here and there with well-directed salutes aimed at pacifying the extremes of the political spectrum.’
  • ‘And there are TV screens everywhere, pumping out a constant stream of ramped up news and political rhetoric, at once nerving up and pacifying the populace.’
  • ‘In an attempt to pacify the Irish, the British establishment made a number of concessions aimed at enabling tenant farmers to become the owners of the land they so diligently tilled.’

  placate, appease, calm, calm down, conciliate, propitiate, assuage, mollify, soothe, tranquillize, content, still, silence, relax, compose

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  1. 1.1Bring peace to (a country or warring factions), especially by the use or threatened use of military force.
     • ‘The idea of occupying and pacifying a country by airpower alone, or with the air force as the primary force employed, is especially attractive to airmen.’
     • ‘Caesar campaigns against the Belgii; all northern Gaul apparently pacified.’
     • ‘Linn's book is a detailed operational history of military action to pacify and restore order to the islands.’
     • ‘The country is pacified now, or nearly so, we're almost there, don't you understand?’
     • ‘As each new sector of land was conquered and pacified, so new threats (some real, many imagined) loomed in the territories beyond.’
     • ‘The government must realize that brute force alone will not pacify the restive region.’
     • ‘With the exception of a few hot spots, the California-sized country is pacified and moving in the right direction.’
     • ‘To return to the military metaphor, not only do officers have to build high walls against outsiders, they must also pacify a broad swath of territory beyond the fortress.’
     • ‘As a result, the authorities needed three more years to pacify the country.’
     • ‘We have no local support and half the force we need to pacify the country.’
     • ‘There is no doubt that the kind of personnel required to invade a country and the kind needed to pacify a nation are two different breeds.’
     • ‘The government continues to argue that it can fight and defeat the rebels, pacifying the entire country in the process.’
     • ‘Starting around 575 BCE, as a way of pacifying the northern kingdom, Tiglathpileser takes over the lands belonging to the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, and exiles them.’
     • ‘The way he pacified the country was to marry into different families and thereby gain the loyalty of those tribes.’
     • ‘‘It took nearly 80 years to pacify Northern Ireland, where there are only two factions,’ he wrote.’
     • ‘The Spanish increased their efforts to pacify northern Morocco, and a new road between Fez and Rabat aided French penetration.’
     • ‘To reduce these divisions, the strategy of creating more states was developed to pacify differences and demonstrate respect for the many minority groups in the country.’
     • ‘We need to pacify the population and win them to our side before any serious nation-building can take place.’

Origin

Late 15th century (earlier (late Middle English) as pacification): from Old French pacefier, from Latin pacificare, based on pax, pac- ‘peace’.

Pacify Meaning