placate

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

placate

/pləˈkeɪt/ UK
/pleɪˈkeɪt/ UK
/ˈpleɪkeɪt/ Canada, US
/pleɪˈkeɪt/ Canada, US
/pləˈkeɪt/ Australia

Rhymes with -eɪt

Where it comes from

First attested in the late 17ᵗʰ century; borrowed from Latin plācātus, perfect passive participle of plācō (“appease, placate”, literally “smooth, smoothen”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more), ultimately thought to be from Proto-Indo-European *plāk- (“smooth, flat”), from *pele- (“broad, flat, plain”). Related to Latin placeō (“appease”), Old English flōh (“flat stone, chip”). More at please.

verb placates · placating · placated

transitive To calm; to bring peace to; to influence someone who was furious to the point that they become content or at least no longer irate. The gleam of the light on the paper placated his professional anger, and he wrote rapidly, the final dash of his signature curling the paper up in a triangular tear.
Similar: pacify, appease, assuage, soothe, conciliate, mollify, propitiate, satisfy · Opposite: enrage

adjective more placate · most placate

obsolete, rare Placid, peaceful. When are you more placate and serene?

Translations

Every language

verb to calm

Español	aplacar
日本語	なだめる nadameru
中文	安撫 /安抚 ānfǔ, 平息 píngxí
Português	aplacar
Français	apaiser, calmer
Deutsch	beschwichtigen, besänftigen, begütigen, beruhigen
Italiano	placare
Ελληνικά	κατευνάζω katevnázo
Русский	умиротворя́ть umirotvorjátʹ, успока́ивать uspokáivatʹ, унимать unimatʹ, утихомиривать utixomirivatʹ
Tiếng Việt	xoa dịu
العربية	هَدَّأَ haddaʔa, اِسْتَرْضَى istarḍā
עברית	הרגיע hirgía

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"placate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/placate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

placate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/placate

Chicago

"placate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/placate.

BibTeX

@misc{placate_2026,
  title = {placate},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/placate},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}