acquiesce
verb
Simple meaning
To rest satisfied, or apparently satisfied, or to rest without opposition and discontent.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
akweeehsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ækwiˈɛs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitivewith in or to (or sometimes with
) To rest satisfied, or apparently satisfied, or to rest without opposition and discontent (usually implying previous opposition or discontent); to accept or consent by silence or by omitting to object.
intransitive
To concur upon conviction; to accept tacitly; to assent to; usually, to concur, not heartily but so far as to forbear opposition.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (intransitive, with in or to (or sometimes with)) To rest satisfied, or apparently satisfied, or to rest without opposition and discontent (usually implying previous opposition or discontent); to accept or consent by silence or by omitting to object.
This describes agreeing without overt opposition, often out of resignation rather than enthusiasm. It's often used with 'in' or 'to,' like 'acquiesce in their plan,' implying quiet acceptance without full support.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
Personal reflections
“I decided to acquiesce to his wishes, despite my doubts.”
Group discussions
“Many members will acquiesce to the majority view eventually.”
Policy debates
“The public might acquiesce to the new policy over time.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.