PACIFY (pacified)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: pacified   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pacify mean? 

• PACIFY (verb)
  The verb PACIFY has 2 senses:

1. cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of

2. fight violence and try to establish peace in (a location)

  Familiarity information: PACIFY used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PACIFY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they pacify    ... he / she / it pacifies   
Past simple: pacified   
Past participle: pacified   
-ing form: pacifying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

appease; assuage; conciliate; gentle; gruntle; lenify; mollify; pacify; placate

Context example:

She managed to mollify the angry customer

Hypernyms (to "pacify" is one way to...):

calm; calm down; lull; quiet; quieten; still; tranquilize; tranquillise; tranquillize (make calm or still)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to pacify Sue

Derivation:

pacification (the act of appeasing someone or causing someone to be more favorably inclined)

pacifier (device used for an infant to suck or bite on)

peace (the absence of mental stress or anxiety)

peace (harmonious relations; freedom from disputes)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fight violence and try to establish peace in (a location)

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

The U.N. troops are working to pacify Bosnia

Hypernyms (to "pacify" is one way to...):

establish; give (bring about)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

pacification (a treaty to cease hostilities)

pacifier (someone who tries to bring peace)

peace (a treaty to cease hostilities)

peace (the state prevailing during the absence of war)

peace (the general security of public places)

 Context examples 

I tried to pacify her, and at last succeeded, and she lay quiet; but I could hear her poor dear heart still beating terribly.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

To pacify Mary, and perhaps screen her own embarrassment, Anne did move quietly to the window.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Julia wavered; but was he only trying to soothe and pacify her, and make her overlook the previous affront?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

This, and a few moments' reflection, pacified her; but she was not at all disconcerted by what she had done (though I cannot say as much for her bonnet) and resumed her seat composedly.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Meg flew to rescue Amy, and Beth to pacify Jo, but Jo was quite beside herself, and with a parting box on her sister's ear, she rushed out of the room up to the old sofa in the garret, and finished her fight alone.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He saw the necessity of inviting the Miss Steeles immediately, and his conscience was pacified by the resolution of inviting his sisters another year; at the same time, however, slyly suspecting that another year would make the invitation needless, by bringing Elinor to town as Colonel Brandon's wife, and Marianne as THEIR visitor.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

The sounds I had heard after the scream, and the words that had been uttered, had probably been heard only by me; for they had proceeded from the room above mine: but they assured me that it was not a servant's dream which had thus struck horror through the house; and that the explanation Mr. Rochester had given was merely an invention framed to pacify his guests.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The captain, hearing me utter these absurdities, concluded I was raving; however (I suppose to pacify me) he promised to give order as I desired, and going upon deck, sent some of his men down into my closet, whence (as I afterwards found) they drew up all my goods, and stripped off the quilting; but the chairs, cabinet, and bedstead, being screwed to the floor, were much damaged by the ignorance of the seamen, who tore them up by force.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

An act of cruelty to a child aroused against me the anger of a passer-by, whom I recognised the other day in the person of your kinsman; the doctor and the child’s family joined him; there were moments when I feared for my life; and at last, in order to pacify their too just resentment, Edward Hyde had to bring them to the door, and pay them in a cheque drawn in the name of Henry Jekyll.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I tried to pacify Dora, but she turned away her face, and shook her curls from side to side, and said, You cruel, cruel boy! so many times, that I really did not exactly know what to do: so I took a few turns up and down the room in my uncertainty, and came back again.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)