placate
/ˈpleɪkeɪt/verb
placate is spelled P-L-A-C-A-T-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,416th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, placate means “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” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in placate?
| Letters | 7: P-L-A-C-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 38,416th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is placate?
Placate appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,416th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce placate?
- UK /pləˈkeɪt/
- UK /pleɪˈkeɪt/
- US /ˈpleɪkeɪt/
Placate has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-placate.ogg, En-au-placate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of placate
- placates present, singular, he/she/it
- placating participle, present
- placated participle, past
- more placate comparative
- most placate superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does placate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
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.
adjective
- 1
obsoleterarePlacid, peaceful.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Placate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to calm:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | apaiser, calmer |
| German | beschwichtigen, besänftigen, begütigen, beruhigen |
| Portuguese | aplacar |
| Spanish | aplacar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does placate come 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).