accede

Synonym Chooser

How is the word accede distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of accede are acquiesce, agree, assent, consent, and subscribe. While all these words mean "to concur with what has been proposed," accede implies a yielding, often under pressure, of assent or consent.

officials acceded to the prisoners' demands

When can acquiesce be used instead of accede?

While in some cases nearly identical to accede, acquiesce implies tacit acceptance or forbearance of opposition.

acquiesced to his boss's wishes

In what contexts can agree take the place of accede?

The words agree and accede are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, agree sometimes implies previous difference of opinion or attempts at persuasion.

finally agreed to come along

When could assent be used to replace accede?

Although the words assent and accede have much in common, assent implies an act involving the understanding or judgment and applies to propositions or opinions.

voters assented to the proposal

Where would consent be a reasonable alternative to accede?

The words consent and accede can be used in similar contexts, but consent involves the will or feelings and indicates compliance with what is requested or desired.

consented to their daughter's going

When is subscribe a more appropriate choice than accede?

While the synonyms subscribe and accede are close in meaning, subscribe implies not only consent or assent but hearty approval and active support.

subscribes wholeheartedly to the idea

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of accede In the days after the Oct. 7 attack, Biden fervently embraced Netanyahu and Israel, literally and figuratively, calculating that unvarnished American support for the Jewish state would result in a willingness to accede to some American demands. Dan De Luce, NBC News, 29 Sep. 2024 Moscow cannot accede to Ukraine’s demand for reparations. Branislav L. Slantchev, Foreign Affairs, 1 Apr. 2024 What appears to be lacking in the U.S.’s inability to have Israel accede to its pleas to de-escalate is another geopolitical concept that has, it is argued, worked elsewhere: strategic ambiguity. Charles Walldorf, The Conversation, 3 Oct. 2024 But if Moscow could not enforce a sphere, then on what grounds should the West have acceded? Robert Kagan, Foreign Affairs, 6 Apr. 2022 See all Example Sentences for accede 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for accede
Verb
  • Four ComEd executives and lobbyists were convicted last year in a related trial, and ComEd itself agreed to pay $200 million in fines as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with prosecutors.
    Jim Talamonti | The Center Square contributor, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 5 Jan. 2025
  • Not all experts agree on whether eye creams are any more efficacious than, say, regular creams.
    Jenny Berg, Vogue, 5 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • My dilemma relates not to the legal issue of consent but to whether a 13-year-old has an ethical right to assent to care.
    Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2025
  • However, the bill's language caused much confusion and gridlock in 2019, leading Parliament to pursue an additional measure, which repealed the 2011 act and instituted the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill, which Queen Elizabeth II assented to in March 2022.
    Dan Perry, Newsweek, 4 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • As a result, rather than acquiescing and acquiring their couture from U.S. merchants as McKinley and his supporters hoped, the wealthy women took a stand.
    Einav Rabinovitch-Fox / Made by History, TIME, 7 Jan. 2025
  • The coups failed, but when the military demanded harsher counterinsurgency measures and impunity for its Marcos-era abuses, the Aquino government acquiesced.
    Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Unless Moscow legally consents that the funds be used for that purpose, key European states will continue to object to spending them for fear of setting a dangerous precedent.
    Samuel Charap, Foreign Affairs, 24 Dec. 2024
  • Advocates question if children can meaningfully consent to appearing in the content and point to the lack of regulation for child influencers (only three states have laws related to child influencers).
    Fortesa Latifi, Rolling Stone, 21 Dec. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near accede

Cite this Entry

“Accede.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/accede. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on accede

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!