To restore workable harmony between people or positions in conflict.
Reach for it when repairing a relationship or bringing apparent differences into agreement
Both sisters were ready to reconcile after understanding how the message had been altered.
| playful | |
|---|---|
| everyday | |
| warm | |
| professional | |
| formal |
playful
mend fences
Fits when informal repair after tension is the right tone
Careful The idiom can trivialize a serious breach of trust.
everyday
Fits when separated people come together again
Careful Reunion restores contact but does not prove the conflict is settled.
warm
make peace
Fits when ending a personal quarrel should sound human and direct
Careful Making peace can stop open conflict without addressing the cause.
professional
Fits when a third party helps others work through disagreement
Careful Mediate names the facilitating action, not the parties' restored relationship.
professional
Fits when the issue itself can be settled decisively
Careful A problem may be resolved while resentment between people remains.
formal
Fits when apparently competing needs can both be allowed for
Careful Accommodation manages difference without producing true agreement.
formal
Fits when policies, accounts, or elements need to fit together
Careful Harmonize is less natural for acknowledging personal hurt.
reconcile differences
They used independent evidence to reconcile differences in the two reports.
reconcile with a friend
Reconcile with a friend by listening fully before defending your intention.
difficult to reconcile
The promises were difficult to reconcile with the budget actually approved.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Dvortygirl, California accent, from Wikimedia Commons, public domain Updated
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