assent

¹as·sent

verb \ə-ˈsent, a-\

Definition of ASSENT

intransitive verb

: to agree to something especially after thoughtful consideration : concur

— as·sen·tor or as·sent·er \-ˈsen-tər\ noun

Examples of ASSENT

1. The general proposed a detailed plan and the President assented.
2. <are we to conclude from your silence that you assent?>
3. Cornel West of Harvard introduced Bradley as “my brother, my comrade.” Then Bradley, donning drugstore reading glasses, standing motionless at the podium, took the air out of the cavernous hall with a lecture on the history of racism and the complexity of ethnic subcultures. He got nods of knowing assent, but he could have had a standing O. —Howard Fineman, Newsweek, 19 July1999
4. Appointments at top universities often required the recommendation and assent of experts from other fields; insofar as deans, provosts, and other administrators came from economics and the hard sciences, many of them recognized rational choice as something close to their own ideals of legitimate scientific research. —Jonathan Cohn, New Republic, 25 Oct. 1999
5. From The Second Sex to In a Different Voice, I could read and appreciate the analysis or the argument without feeling personally very involved. I could, and did, argue for feminism because I believed in much of what feminist writers were saying about gender equality, but my assent came from my head, not my heart. I knew that as an audience for feminist writers I was a pretty tertiary concern. —Robert J. Connors, College English, February 1996
6. Once filming began, sequences that had been axed for budgetary reasons were put back-with the studio's tacit assent. —Charles Fleming, Vanity Fair, August 1995

Origin of ASSENT

Middle English, from Anglo-French assentir, assenter, from Latin assentari, from assentire, from ad- + sentire to feel — more at sense

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to ASSENT

Synonyms: acquiesce, agree, accede, come round, consent, subscribe

Antonyms: dissent

Related Words: adopt, embrace, espouse; abide, bear (with), endure, stand, suffer, tolerate; stomach, swallow, take; bow, knuckle under, relent, submit, succumb, yield

Near Antonyms: rebuff, refuse, reject, scorn, spurn; deny, gainsay

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Synonym Discussion of ASSENT

assent, consent, accede, acquiesce, agree, subscribe mean to concur with what has been proposed. assent implies an act involving the understanding or judgment and applies to propositions or opinions <voters assented to the proposal>. consent involves the will or feelings and indicates compliance with what is requested or desired <consented to their daughter's going>. accede implies a yielding, often under pressure, of assent or consent <officials acceded to the prisoners' demands>. acquiesce implies tacit acceptance or forbearance of opposition <acquiesced to his boss's wishes>. agree sometimes implies previous difference of opinion or attempts at persuasion <finally agreed to come along>. subscribe implies not only consent or assent but hearty approval and active support <subscribes wholeheartedly to the idea>.

Rhymes with ASSENT

absent, accent, Advent, anent, ascent, augment, besprent, cement, comment, consent, content, convent, descent, detent, dissent, docent, event, extent, ferment, foment, fragment, frequent, hell-bent, indent, intent, invent, lament, loment, low-rent, mordent, outspent, percent, pigment, portent, present, prevent, pup tent, quitrent, rack-rent, relent, repent, resent, segment, Shymkent, Tashkent, torment, well-meant, wisent