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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

acquiesce en · VERB

Pronunciation

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French acquiescer, from Latin acquiescō; ad + quiescō (“to rest”), from quies (“rest”).

Meanings

  1. (intransitive) 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.
    • The representatives of the good people of this commonwealth in general assembly convened, having maturely considered the answers of sundry states in the Union, to their resolutions passed at the last session, respecting certain unconstitutional laws of Congress, commonly called the alien and sedition laws, would be faithless indeed to themselves, and to those they represent, were they silently to acquiesce in principles and doctrines attempted to be maintained in all those answers, that of Virginia only excepted. 1799, Thomas Jefferson, The Kentucky Resolution of 1799:
    • Equally remarkable was how quickly Attorney General Pam Bondi acquiesced to his [Donald Trump's] demand, even though four months ago the Justice Department formally declared that nothing in the Epstein files warranted further investigation. 2025 November 14, Erica L. Green, Glenn Thrush, Alan Feuer, “Justice Department to Investigate Epstein Ties, but Not to Trump”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
    • They were compelled to acquiesce in a government which they did not regard as just. 1846, Thomas De Quincey, “On Christianity, as an Organ of Political Movement”, in Tait's Magazine:
    • If a minority, in such case, will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which, in turn, will divide and ruin them; for a minority of their own will secede from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such minority. 1861 March 4, Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address:
    • Cathy was a powerful ally at home; and between them they at length persuaded my master to acquiesce in their having a ride or a walk together about once a week, under my guardianship, and on the moors nearest the Grange: for June found him still declining. 1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], Wuthering Heights: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC:
    • "They" might be ruining the world, but Mitchell's characters, by doing nothing but bitching, are only acquiescing in that ruin, and that is a luxury that neither they — nor we — can afford. 1982 December 4, Rob Kaplan, “Life in the Last Days”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 20, page 12:
  2. (intransitive) To concur upon conviction; to accept tacitly; to assent to; usually, to concur, not heartily but so far as to forbear opposition.
    • So I acquiesce, I say "alright, I'll work Ryback", and I go up to Ryan, "hey man, clean slate" 2014 November 26, CM Punk, “Episode 226: CM Punk” (1 hour 5 minutes 50 seconds from the start), in Art of Wrestling:
    • Langdon could tell there would be no deterring her and so he acquiesced, turning his attention back to the pyramid. 2009, Dan Brown, chapter 70, in The Lost Symbol, →ISBN:
    • The job of His Majesty's Opposition - especially as election time looms - is to provide well-worked-out alternatives to government plans, not to acquiesce in what could prove to be a disastrous policy for rail passengers. 2023 March 8, Christian Wolmar, “Labour passes up the chance to deliver a forceful rail policy”, in RAIL, number 978, page 35:
    • I entirely acquiesce in all the observations you make in your letter; they are worthy of your heart and understanding; 1794, Charlotte Smith, chapter 16, in The Banished Man, volume II:
    • to acquiesce in an opinion
    • I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over them. 1891, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band:
    • The episode also opens with an inspired bit of business for Homer, who blithely refuses to acquiesce to an elderly neighbor’s utterly reasonable request that he help make the process of selling her house easier by wearing pants when he gallivants about in front of windows, throw out his impressive collection of rotting Jack-O-Lanterns from previous Halloweens and take out his garbage, as it’s attracting wildlife (cue moose and Northern Exposure theme song). 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
acquiesces Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
acquiescing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
acquiesced Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
acquiesced Tense=Past lexicographic

Antonyms

object · support · approve · uphold · welcome · protest · embrace · back

Coordinates

accede

Deriveds

acquiescement · nonacquiescing · acquiescingly

Hypernyms

conform · assent · tolerate

Relateds

acquiescence · acquiescent · acquiescer

Synonyms

abide by · acquiesce · bite the bullet · go along with · pay the price · yield · suck it up · submit · grin and bear it · make a virtue of necessity · accept · make the best of a bad job · face up to · resign · face the music · grit one's teeth · swallow a bitter pill · pay the penalty · take sitting down

Translations (40)

fi alistua (rest satisfied) · fi tyytyä (rest satisfied) · pt aquiescer (rest satisfied) · es mostrar aquiescencia a (rest satisfied) · da indvillige (i) (concur upon conviction) · fr acquiescer (concur upon conviction) · cmn 默许 (concur upon conviction) · es aquiescer (concur upon conviction) · mi ngawhere (rest satisfied) · nl berusten (rest satisfied) · it sottomettersi (rest satisfied) · it conformarsi (rest satisfied) · sh prìstati (rest satisfied) · fi alistua (concur upon conviction) · it consentire (concur upon conviction) · la acquiescō (rest satisfied) · es aquiescer (rest satisfied) · mi ngawhere (concur upon conviction) · nl berusten (concur upon conviction) · bg приемам (concur upon conviction) · hu beleegyezik (concur upon conviction) · hu belenyugszik (rest satisfied) · es mostrar aquiescencia a (concur upon conviction) · hu beletörődik (rest satisfied) · da finde sig (concur upon conviction) · bg съгласявам се мълчаливо (rest satisfied) · es ser aquiescente con (rest satisfied) · fi suostua (concur upon conviction) · es ser aquiescente con (concur upon conviction) · pl godzić się (concur upon conviction) · fi myöntyä (rest satisfied) · da slå sig til tåls (rest satisfied) · mi whakaririka (concur upon conviction) · ar يَرْكَن (rest satisfied) · hu elfogad (concur upon conviction) · it approvare (rest satisfied) · ru соглаша́ться (rest satisfied) · fi myöntyä (concur upon conviction) · sh прѝстати (rest satisfied) · pl przyzwalać (na coś) (rest satisfied)