Word: placate (verb)

Associations

"Placate" means to calm someone down or make them less angry or upset. It is often used when someone is angry or upset, and you want to make them feel better or stop being angry.

• She tried to placate her angry boss by apologizing. Here, she wants to calm her boss.
• The mother placated the crying baby with a toy. The baby was upset, and the mother wanted to calm it.
• The government tried to placate the protesters by agreeing to some demands. The protesters were upset, and the government wanted to reduce their anger.

A well-known synonym is "appease." The difference is that "placate" often means calming someone's feelings gently, while "appease" can sometimes mean giving in to demands, even if you don't agree.

Substitution

You can use words like "calm," "soothe," "appease," or "mollify" instead of "placate."

• "Calm" is very general.
• "Soothe" often relates to feelings or pain.
• "Appease" suggests giving something to stop anger.
• "Mollify" is similar to "placate" but a bit more formal or old-fashioned.

Deconstruction

The word "placate" comes from Latin "placare," which means "to please" or "to calm." The root "plac-" means "please" or "calm." The "-ate" ending is common for verbs in English that come from Latin, meaning "to make or do something."

Inquiry

• Can you think of a time when you needed to placate someone? How did you do it?
• What are some ways to placate someone without giving in to everything they want?
• How is placating different from ignoring someone's feelings?