acquiesce

verb

ac·​qui·​esce ˌa-kwē-ˈes 

acquiesced; acquiescing

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."

Synonyms

• accede
• agree
• assent
• come round
• consent
• subscribe

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

Examples of acquiesce in a Sentence

… 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

Recent Examples on the Web

Worse, the Biden administration seems to have basically acquiesced to the current state of affairs in the Red Sea. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 2 Dec. 2024

The Netherlands eventually acquiesced, but Austria held out, provoking tensions with Romania’s government. —Frey Lindsay, Forbes, 24 Nov. 2024

Lawmakers repeatedly acquiesced, even as the Washington Supreme Court held them in contempt — later fining them $100,000 a day — for failing to fund public schools. —Lulu Ramadan, ProPublica, 4 Aug. 2024

The coalition government acquiesced to this demand, and a public inquiry was set up later in 2022. —Frey Lindsay, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024

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

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Kids Definition

acquiesce

verb

ac·​qui·​esce ˌak-wē-ˈes 

acquiesced; acquiescing

: to accept, agree, or give consent by keeping silent or by not raising objections

acquiescence

-ˈes-ᵊn(t)s

noun

Legal Definition

acquiesce

intransitive verb

ac·​qui·​esce ˌa-kwē-ˈes 

acquiesced; acquiescing

: to accept, comply, or submit tacitly or passively

—often used with in and sometimes with to

acquiescence

ˌa-kwē-ˈes-ᵊns 

noun