mindmap root((PLAC)) placate To calm the anger or bitterness of someone.
🌱The Romans had a number of ways of placating the gods, which occasionally included burying slaves alive. 🌳Politicians are constantly having to placate angry voters. Diplomats frequently need to placate a country's allies or possible enemies. Parents are always placating kids who think they've been unfairly denied something. And lovers and spouses are some of the champion placaters. It's no secret that people with the best social skills are often the best at placating other people—and that they themselves may be the ones who benefit the most by it. placebo A harmless substance given to a patient in place of genuine medication, either for experimental purposes or to soothe the patient.
🌱The placebo worked miraculously: his skin rash cleared up, his sleep improved, and he even ceased to hear voices. 🌳Doctors doing research on new treatments for disease often give one group a placebo while a second group takes the new medication. Since those in the placebo group usually believe they're getting the real thing, their own hopeful attitude may bring about improvement in their condition. Thus, for the real drug to be considered effective, it must produce even better results than the placebo. Placebos have another use as well. A doctor who suspects that a patient's physical symptoms are psychologically produced may prescribe a placebo in the hope that mentally produced symptoms can also be mentally cured. placidity Serene freedom from interruption or disturbance; calmness.
🌱Her placidity seemed eerie in view of the destruction she had witnessed and the huge loss she had suffered. 🌳A placid lake has a smooth surface untouched by wind. A placid scene is one in which everything seems calm; it may even include a meadow with a few placid cows grazing on it. Someone with a placid personality has an inner peacefulness that isn't easily disturbed. As a personality trait, placidity is surely a lot better than some of the alternatives; however, the word sometimes describes people who are also a bit passive, like those contented cows. implacable Not capable of being pleased, satisfied, or changed.
🌱Attempts to negotiate a peace settlement between such implacable enemies seem doomed to failure. 🌳Implacable, with its negative prefix im-, describes something or someone that can't be calmed or soothed or altered. A person who carries a grudge feels an implacable resentment—a resentment that can't be soothed. An implacable foe is one you can't negotiate with, perhaps one who's fueled by implacable hatred. And implacable sometimes describes things that only seem to be alive: an implacable storm is one that seems as if it will never let up, and an implacable fate is one that you can't outrun or hide from.