peaceable

adj — 2 senses

peaceable

adj

UK /ˈpiːsəb(ə)l/

Etymology From Anglo-Norman pesible, peisible, Middle French paisible, from pais (“peace”) + -ible; later remodelled after peace + -able.

1

Favouring peace rather than conflict; not aggressive, tending to avoid violence (of people, actions etc.).

  • But in the Muslim world we are dealing with regimes who have banished, imprisoned, silenced or neutralised all opposition, even where this is entirely peaceable.1999 December 29, Faisal Bodi, The Guardian:
  • But if you talk to people here privately, they suggest there are three possible scenarios. The first (intended to sound incredible) is that Israel’s biggest neighbour will be transformed into a peaceable, pluralist democracy.2011 February 8, ‘Feeling understandably twitchy’, The Economist:
2

Characterized by peace; peaceful, tranquil.

  • Though unusual in the Dublin area he knew that it was not by any means unknown for desperadoes who had next to nothing to live on to be abroad waylaying and generally terrorising peaceable pedestrians by placing a pistol at their head …., Episode 16
Synonyms
anti-bellicist, dovelike, dovish, irenic, irenical, non-violent, pacific, pacifist, pacifistic, peaceable, peaceful, unaggressive
Antonyms
antipacifist, bellicist, bellicose, hawkish, martial, militant, philopolemic, quarrelsome, unpacifist, unpeaceable, violent, warhungry
Derived terms
peaceability, peaceableness, peaceably, unpeaceable
Related terms
peaceful, calm, pacify
Hypernyms
temperate
Hyponyms
conciliatory, non-confrontational, nonbellicose, nonbelligerent, noncombative, nonpolemic, nonpolemical, uncombative, unjingoistic, unwarlike

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.