Word family noun peace peacefulness pacifier pacifism pacifist adjective peaceful peaceable pacifist verb pacify adverb peacefully peaceably
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpacifypac‧i‧fy /ˈpæsɪfaɪ/ verb (pacified, pacifying, pacifies) [transitive] 1 CALMto make someone calm, quiet, and satisfied after they have been angry or upset ‘You’re right, ’ Rita said, in order to pacify him.2 PGPEACE/NO WARto stop groups of people from fighting or protesting, often by using force Economic reforms are needed to pacify and modernize the country.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
pacify• They will be met with measures that no longer seek to pacify but only to contain.• Yucatan, although not completely pacified, had been reincorporated into the federal union in July.• It was no use trying to pacify him; he was simply too upset.• They had to use drugs to pacify him.• As I drove home, I tried to think how I was going to pacify my wife, who was sure to be angry.• But it will also be needed to pacify old adversaries, and to prevent small crises from becoming big ones.• When we pacified the bopping gang of a decade ago, its members turned to narcotics and self-mutilation.• Some critics question its sustainability and others view it as a sop to pacify the poor.• On August 20, the army recaptured the city and pacified the surrounding area.• But the expulsion did not pacify the Tory civil war, as the contenders traded recriminations.• By saying the war was over, the territory pacified, they would make it so.Origin pacify (1400-1500) Latin pacificare, from pax; → PEACE 