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placate

[play-kayt, plak-ayt] / ˈpleɪ keɪt, ˈplæk eɪt /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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Hastily-put-together surveying is apparently being done now in an attempt to placate the development’s detractors.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

For its part, PG&E is expected to announce changes in its capital-allocation strategies, but it’s unclear if that would placate investors.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

Leavitt, by never failing to placate, flatter and worship her boss, has displayed a singular and decisive pathway, although not a very original one, to political success.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

She calls the new law "just a rough move to placate people", and has "no idea why schools don't just sell iron-on branded badges".

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

They’re just going through the motions, to placate me.

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman

To conceal this, Spotify placates us by telling us that we’re superior in some way because of it.

From Slate ● Dec. 3, 2020

It’s a position that by now must feel familiar to Melania Trump — her husband provokes while she placates.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 27, 2018

It reassures the people who count on us that we're back on the straight and narrow, it placates the wronged party, and, ideally, it leads to self-reflection and improved behavior.

From Golf Digest ● Oct. 30, 2017

So British Gas will be hoping this new scheme placates the government while ensuring it holds on to millions of customers who don't switch and who have traditionally paid over the odds for their energy.

From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2017

For nothing ever placates them, nothing ever moves to a look of approval that ring of bleak and contemptuous Faces.

From Trivia by Logan Pearsall Smith

The team placated him with a bottle of water.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

Baelor, a politician and a feudal dynast, might understand on some level that by fighting with Dunk, he is, in his own way, upholding the dignity of the crown and keeping the commoners placated.

From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2026

Those most concerned about Medicaid were placated earlier in the day to at least go along with this step.

From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2025

Eventually, she said, she placated Mr. Majors, saying she would try to do better, and he left.

From New York Times ● Feb. 8, 2024

Since he was a young boy, James could be placated by a treat from Alice’s kitchen, the sugar apple that cut short a fit or tantrum.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

Soundly beating earnings expectations isn’t placating investors skeptical of the durability of the frenzied AI data center buildout, which is driving these outsize earnings reports.

From Barron's ● Apr. 16, 2026

For Dr Wallace, the ad sends a message that "an affordable Christmas" is possible, by "placating the cash-strapped 'Grinch' that threatens to spoil everyone's Christmas".

From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2025

Neither satisfying the public’s prurient curiosity, nor allowing Epstein conspiracy theorists to second-guess prosecutorial judgment, nor placating a president’s political base is a valid reason to break the normal rule.

From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2025

Necheles seeks to build a case that there was no wrong-doing in the former President’s payments to Daniels, while placating her client who maintains that he had no affair with Daniels.

From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2024

“We’ll be gone shortly,” adds Caesar, his voice soft, placating.

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes




Vocabulary lists containing placate


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