Word Confusion: Appeal versus Appease

Posted May 26, 2022 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Our apartment building got a memo about appeasing our garden beds. So, I’m looking for some statues of garden gods.

Okay, okay, so I suspect the manager meant appeal, but there’s a reason one proofreads one’s work. So in honor of the garden gods, I’ll be exploring appeal versus appease. But I’m still looking for physical representations of gods for my garden . . . just in case and to keep me laughing.

Appeal can be either a noun or a verb to either be or make a request to a court, the public, or a person OR to be attractive.

Appease is strictly a transitive verb meaning to make nice to someone, whether it’s deserved or not.

Considering the images I ran across on the Internet, you may also want to explore “Peal versus Peel“, so you don’t make the same mistakes.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

If you found this post on “Appeal versus Appease” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

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Appeal	Appease
Church Roof Appeal Sign at Llanyblodwel by Philip Ingram is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons and courtesy of Geograph.org.uk.	Reunióndetrasgos by Aidutxi is under the CC0 1.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — One goblin appeases another — I suspect he wants some of that wood.
Part of Grammar:
Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun and third person present verb: appeals Past tense or past participle: appealed Gerund or present participle: appealing	Verb, transitive Third person present verb: appeases Past tense or past participle: appeased Gerund or present participle: appeasing
Noun: An earnest, serious, or urgent request, typically one made to the public Entreaty Petition Plea An attempt to persuade someone to do something by calling on a particular principle or quality [Law] An application to a higher court for a decision to be reversed [In a legislative body or assembly] A formal question as to the correctness of a ruling by a presiding officer [Obsolete] A formal charge or accusation {Obsolete] A summons or challenge A request for donations to support a charity or cause The quality of being attractive or interesting The power or ability to attract, interest, amuse, or stimulate the mind or emotions Verb, intransitive: Make a serious or urgent request, typically to the public To ask for aid, support, mercy, sympathy, or the like Make an earnest entreaty To have need of or ask for proof, a decision, corroboration, etc. [Law] Apply to a higher court for a reversal of the decision of a lower court [Baseball; of the team in the field] Call on the umpire to rule a strike or out on a completed play [appeal to] Address oneself to (a principle or quality in someone To be especially attractive, pleasing, interesting, or enjoyable Verb, transitive: [Law; mainly North American] Apply to a higher court for a reversal of (the decision of a lower court) [Law; obsolete] To charge with a crime before a tribunal	Pacify, soothe, or placate (someone) by acceding to their demands Relieve, allay, or satisfy (a demand or a feeling) Assuage To yield or concede to the belligerent demands of (a nation, group, person, etc.) in a conciliatory effort, sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles
Examples:
Noun: His mother made an appeal for the return of the ring. She couldn’t resist the look of appeal on his face. An appeal was made to their common cultural values. He has 28 days in which to lodge an appeal. You do have the right of appeal. The family made a public appeal to raise $120,000. She never did understand the popular appeal of football. The game has lost its appeal. Verb, intransitive: Police are appealing for information about the incident. She appealed to Germany for political asylum. The college appealed to its alumni for funds. He said he would appeal against the conviction. Morally, there’s no difference between a batsman who chooses to stay, knowing that he is out, and a wicketkeeper who appeals against a batsman knowing he isn’t. I appealed to his sense of justice. The range of topics will appeal to youngsters. The red hat appeals to me. Verb, transitive: They have 48 hours to appeal the decision. We intend to appeal the verdict. The plaintiff appealed the decision to the appellate court. “And there openly Sir Mador appealed the queen of the death of his cousin Sir Patryse” (Malory).	Amendments have been added to appease local pressure groups. Bow! Bow, if you want to appease an angry king. We give to charity because it appeases our guilt. The fruit appeased his hunger. We must appease the garden gods if we want a good harvest. Just go along with the idiot, appease her.
Derivatives:
Adjective: appealable, appealing Adverb: appealingly Noun: appealability, appealer, nonappealability	Noun: appeasement, appeaser
History of the Word:
Middle English (in legal contexts) from the Old French apel (noun), apeler (verb), is from the Latin appellare meaning to address, based on ad- (to) + pellere (to drive).	Middle English from the Old French apaisier, from a-, from the Latin ad (to, at) + pais (peace).

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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