placate

/pləˈkeɪt/

//pləˈkeɪt// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"placate" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“placate” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #38,555. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#38,555
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 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.

Corpus desk

Index EN-placate · placate · English

placate · rank #38,555 · 10 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #38,555
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH ploughed

Nearest frequency peer: ploughed (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “placate”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “placate” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

placate vs place
71% similar
placate vs plate
71% similar
placate vs Platte
57% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for placate
PropertyValue
Headwordplacate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/pləˈkeɪt/
Letters7
Frequency rank#38,555
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “placate” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).placatelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “ploughed” (#38,556), “phrased” (#38,552), “permissive” (#38,551). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around placate (IPA /pləˈkeɪt/), averb. Corpus frequency is #38,555 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Dominant gloss: "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.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for placate, with forms such as "lpacate", "palcate", and "plaacte". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "place", "plate", "Platte", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 t… The correct English form is placate, spelled P-L-A-C-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how placate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 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.
  2. To-day a deity who should require bleeding sacrifices to placate him would be too sanguinary to be taken seriously.

Etymology

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.

This word in other languages

aplacar(Español)apaiser(Français)beschwichtigen(Deutsch)aplacar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lpacate
  • palcate
  • plaacte
  • placaet
  • placatte
  • placcate
  • plactae
  • plcaate
  • pllacate
  • pplacate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of placate - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

lpacate2palcate2plaacte2placaet2placatte1placcate1plactae2plcaate2
Edit distance from "placate"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "placate"?
"placate" is spelled P-L-A-C-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /pləˈkeɪt/.
What does "placate" mean?
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.
What words are commonly confused with "placate"?
"placate" is commonly confused with "place", "plate", "Platte". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "placate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "placate" is /pləˈkeɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "placate"?
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... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "placate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

phrased#38,552peloton#38,550powdery#38,560peerage#38,548

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

numeral10 variantsNineveh10 variantsMoseley10 variantsshifty10 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "placate". Here's where to go from here.

  • "placate" maps to 6 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "place". View pair
  • 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #38,555 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list