conciliatory
adjective
Colin DeppenDan Balz
Did you know?
If you are conciliatory towards someone, you're trying to win that person over to your side. The verb conciliate was borrowed into English in the mid-16th century and descends from the Latin verb conciliare, meaning "to assemble, unite, or win over." Conciliare, in turn, comes from Latin concilium, meaning "assembly" or "council." Conciliatory, which appeared in English a bit later in the 16th century, also traces back to conciliare. Another word that has conciliare as a root is reconcile, the earliest meaning of which is "to restore to friendship or harmony."
Examples of conciliatory in a Sentence
Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 June 2025
On Saturday, Beijing appeared to send conciliatory signals.
—John Liu, CNN Money, 9 June 2025
China stocks resumed trading after the Labor Day holidays amid signs of Washington and Beijing taking a more conciliatory approach to resolving trade disputes after resorting to tit-for-tat tariffs.
—Amala Balakrishner, CNBC, 5 May 2025
The result was a mad scramble in Japan to find sufficient rare earths to keep factories open, and Japan hurriedly became conciliatory and pleaded for a resumption in the trade.
—Nicholas D. Kristof, Mercury News, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for conciliatory
Cite this Entry
“Conciliatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conciliatory. Accessed 20 Jun. 2025.
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