Truce

An agreement to pause or end fighting or hostility, usually for a stated period or purpose.

Reach for it when naming a negotiated stop to conflict without pretending the underlying dispute is resolved

The two neighborhood groups called a truce while an independent survey settled the boundary.

• playful

  time-out

  when a brief informal pause lets tempers cool

  not when Time-out trivializes serious violence and carries no negotiated commitments.

• warm

  peace

  when the broader absence of conflict or reconciliation is real

  not when Peace is a larger outcome; a truce can leave grievances untouched.

• professional

  ceasefire

  when armed parties formally stop military action

  not when A ceasefire is war-specific and may be more precisely monitored than a truce.

• professional

  stand-down

  when parties stop active operations on instruction or agreement

  not when A stand-down may be unilateral and temporary without mutual terms.

• formal

  armistice

  when a formal military agreement suspends hostilities

  not when Armistice is too grand and technical for an everyday disagreement.

• literary

  detente

  when relations relax after sustained political tension

  not when Detente describes reduced tension rather than a specific agreement to stop fighting.

• hostilities
• warfare
• escalation

• call a truce

  The rival clubs agreed to call a truce for the joint fundraiser.

• temporary truce

  A temporary truce allowed families to leave the damaged district.

• uneasy truce

  The uneasy truce held while mediators met both sides.

A truce stops hostile action; it does not by itself create justice, trust, or lasting peace.