Conciliate in a Sentence: 7 Examples, and Where It Isn't Appease

Conciliate means to reduce anger or distrust. It can also mean to help opposing sides reach agreement. A neutral person may conciliate two groups. A person in the dispute may try to conciliate the other side. The word describes an effort, not a sure result.

The examples cover both uses. They also show the adjective "conciliatory." This form often appears in work notes.

Third party bringing two sides together

HR narrative: "The new VP spent her first month trying to conciliate the two department heads after their dispute over the roadmap."

Retrospective: "A neutral facilitator helped conciliate Sales and Product after the pricing dispute, but each team approved the final plan itself."

An interested party winning over a hostile party

Leadership case study: "She sought to conciliate the client by answering the technical concerns and offering clear options for the next step."

Board note: "The company tried to conciliate union representatives through talks and a revised offer, while recognizing their right to reject it."

The adjective, "conciliatory"

Status update: "We took a conciliatory approach in the renewal talk, and the client later sent a counteroffer we could review."

Exec note: "His tone was conciliatory, and the written plan gave staff clear facts they could assess for themselves."

Written, formal register

Report: "The report recommends checking the governing rules before a claim. Those rules determine whether formal conciliation is optional or required."

What these examples have in common

Each example involves conflict, anger, or distrust. That tension is a key part of "conciliate." For a friendly first meeting, use "build rapport" or "get to know" instead.

The verb does not prove that the effort was fair. It also does not prove success. Check what each side chose and what happened next. Also note that "conciliatory" may sound more natural than the verb "conciliate." It describes a tone, act, or approach meant to ease conflict.

Practice scenarios

Practice using conciliate in situations like:

• describing a leader's effort to help two competing teams reach a shared plan
• describing how you tried to ease conflict with a skeptical stakeholder
• choosing "conciliatory" instead of the verb when a sentence needs the adjective slot
• writing a formal report that references a conciliation step

Useful practice phrases:

• "[Person] conciliated [two parties], and both sides agreed to [outcome]."
• "Conciliating [a skeptical stakeholder] took [concrete action], not just a friendlier tone."
• "We took a conciliatory approach, and [result]."

The core idea is an effort to ease real conflict. Agreement still depends on what the parties accept.