What does "rapprochement" mean?

The reestablishment of cordial relations, particularly between two countries; a reconciliation.

What is a synonym for "rapprochement"?

Common synonyms include: reconciliation, accord, accordance, affinity, agape, agreement.

Pronounced //ɹəˈpɹɒʃmɒ̃//.

//ɹəˈpɹɒʃmɒ̃// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The reestablishment of cordial relations, particularly between two countries; a reconciliation.
"It was the Nixon administration that saw the rapprochement between the United States and China."
2
the reestablishing of cordial relations wordnet

"He was hostile to any attempts at rapprochement."

Unadapted borrowing from French rapprochement (“act or process of getting closer together; link (between two things)”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.