pacification

Everyday

1. (formal) Making people calm or stopping them being angry. tree →
2. (formal, history) Bringing peace to an area by force, often by an army, so that people stop fighting back. tree →

In the lessons

In history texts: an army's "pacification" of a region often meant violent control, so the word can hide harsh actions (a kind of euphemism). In everyday life the related word is pacify — calming a crying baby. Phrases: pacification of a region.

Examples

• The army's pacification of the region was cruel. tree →
• Some history books use "pacification" to hide how violent the war was. tree →
• The pacification of the angry crowd took hours. tree →
• Pacification means making calm, sometimes by force. tree →
• The general wrote a report on the pacification campaign. tree →
• A dummy helps with the pacification of a crying baby (formal, jokey). tree →

Note

Uncountable, formal. Verb: pacify (pacified, pacifying); related: pacifier (US: a baby's dummy), pacifist (someone against all war). In history, read "pacification" carefully — it may mean force was used.