acquiesce

verb

ac·qui·esce ˌa-kwē-ˈes

acquiesced; acquiescing

Synonyms of acquiesce next

intransitive verb

: to accept, comply, or submit tacitly or passively

—often used with in or to

Did you know?

If you’re looking to give your speech a gentle, formal flair, don't give acquiesce the silent treatment. Essentially meaning "to comply quietly," acquiesce has as its ultimate source the Latin verb quiēscere, "to be quiet." (Quiet itself is also a close relation.) Quiēscere can also mean "to repose," "to fall asleep," or "to rest," and when acquiesce arrived in English via French in the early 1600s, it did so with two senses: the familiar "to agree or comply" and the now-obsolete "to rest satisfied." Herman Melville employed the former in Moby-Dick, when Ahab orders the "confounded" crew to change the Pequod's course after a storm damages the compasses: "Meanwhile, whatever were his own secret thoughts, Starbuck said nothing, but quietly he issued all requisite orders; while Stubb and Flask—who in some small degree seemed then to be sharing his feelings—likewise unmurmuringly acquiesced."

Choose the Right Synonym for acquiesce

assent, consent, accede, acquiesce, agree, subscribe mean to concur with what has been proposed.

assent implies an act involving the understanding or judgment and applies to propositions or opinions.

voters assented to the proposal

consent involves the will or feelings and indicates compliance with what is requested or desired.

consented to their daughter's going

accede implies a yielding, often under pressure, of assent or consent.

officials acceded to the prisoners' demands

acquiesce implies tacit acceptance or forbearance of opposition.

acquiesced to his boss's wishes

agree sometimes implies previous difference of opinion or attempts at persuasion.

finally agreed to come along

subscribe implies not only consent or assent but hearty approval and active support.

subscribes wholeheartedly to the idea

Example Sentences

… the tender understanding with which he had acquiesced to her wish not to consummate their relationship out of wedlock. —

Dorothy West, The Wedding, 1995

… he seems to have acquiesced in his Christian Scientist wife's refusal to provide medical care … —

Joyce Carol Oates, New York Times Book Review, 17 Dec. 1995

The main body of Shi'is, in and around Iraq, accepted 'Abbasid rule, or at least acquiesced in it. —

Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, 1991

He passively acquired the reputation of being a snob, and acquiesced to it … —

George V. Higgins, Harper's, September 1984

They demanded it, and he acquiesced. apparently the contractor expected me to acquiesce to my own fleecing See More

Recent Examples on the Web Many acquiesce to now-orthodox progressive ideology, which is omnipresent among federal bureaucracies and much of Congress. —

Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 18 Mar. 2021 There’s nothing in the populist character or in the history of populist movements to suggest that a defeated national-conservative wing of the GOP would acquiesce and put their shoulders to the wheel during a general election. —

Cameron Hilditch, National Review, 28 Feb. 2021 Naik worries that Musk might acquiesce to the Modi administration’s attempts to stifle Hindutvawatch. —

Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 16 Jan. 2023 Boebert on Tuesday morning demanded a single-member motion to vacate and Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania released a statement that McCarthy refused to acquiesce to their demands, thus relinquishing his opportunity to secure the speakership. —

Eric Cortellessa, Time, 3 Jan. 2023 Business leaders had to acquiesce to their requirements. —

Jack Kelly, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2023 Scott Boras, Correa’s powerful agent, does not acquiesce to such last-second tactics when there are alternatives and, in this case, there was a big one. —

David Waldstein, New York Times, 21 Dec. 2022 In other words: Venice would need to acquiesce to low-level inundation. —

Stefano Pitrelli, Washington Post, 26 Nov. 2022 If calls for alternative app stores become strong enough, Apple will have to acquiesce or risk losing market share. —

WSJ, 16 Dec. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'acquiesce.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French acquiescer, going back to Middle French, borrowed from Latin acquiēscere "to rest, find peace, be satisfied (with)," from ad- ad- + quiēscere "to repose, be quiet" — more at quiescent

First Known Use

1613, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of acquiesce was in 1613

See more words from the same year