Dictionary

mollify en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈmɒlɪfaɪ/

Etymology

From Middle English mollifien, from Late Latin mollificō, from Latin mollis (“soft”). By surface analysis, Latin moll- + -ify.

Meanings

1. To ease a burden, particularly to ease a worry; make less painful; to comfort.
   • Hovv impetrable hee vvas in mollyfying the adamantineſt tiranny of mankinde, […] 1599, [Thomas] Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe, […], London: […] [Thomas Judson and Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and C[uthbert] B[urby] […], →OCLC, page 21:
   • mollify criticism
   • attempt to mollify
   • Her calm explanation helped mollify their concerns.
   • mollify someone’s anger
   • All that charity can do where injustice exists is here and there to somewhat mollify the effects of injustice. 1893, Henry George, The Condition of Labor: An Open Letter to Pope Leo XIII, page 104:
   • The draft Charter School Handbook issued in November 1994 sought to mollify concerns over teacher quality, if not ATA membership, by requiring teacher certification. 1997, A Government Reinvented: A Study of Alberta’s Deficit Elimination Program, page 408:
2. To appease anger, pacify, gain the good will of.
   • There were no honeyed words from Dr. Beeching to mollify Scottish feeling on rail service closures during his one-day visit in May. 1964 July, “News and Comment: Dr. B. beards Scots in their lair”, in Modern Railways, page 15:
   • But these answers did not mollify Grassley. Specifically, he objected to Abedin’s becoming an S.G.E., because he believed she provided no irreplaceable expertise and therefore her designation as one had violated Congress’s intent when it created the program, in 1962. 2016 January 31, “Is Huma Abedin Hillary Clinton’s Secret Weapon or Her Next Big Problem?”, in Vanity Fair, archived from the original on 05 Feb 2016, retrieved 21 Jan 2016:
   • He tried to mollify the angry customer.
   • The angry goat was quite mollified by the respectful tone in which he was addressed. 1916, L. Frank Baum, chapter 5, in Rinkitink in Oz:
   • Although this invitation was accompanied with a curtsey that might have softened the heart of a church-warden, it by no means mollified the beadle. 1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], chapter II, in Oliver Twist; […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:
   • Earlier this year, amid the challenge to the public charge rule arising from the Covid-19 virus, Chief Justice John Roberts took the lead against immigrant interests yet mollified liberals poised to dissent publicly, CNN’s Joan Biskupic reported this week. 2020 July 29, Priscilla Alvarez, “Judge blocks administration from implementing ‘public charge’ rule for immigrants during pandemic”, in CNN:
3. To soften; to make tender.
   • Nor is it any more difficulty for him to mollifie what is hard, then it is to harden what is so soft and fluid as the Aire. 1653, Henry More, An Antidote against Atheisme, or An Appeal to the Natural Faculties of the Minde of Man, whether There Be Not a God, London: […] Roger Daniel, […], →OCLC:
   • By thy kindness thou wilt melt and mollify his spirit towards thee, as hardest metals are melted by coals of fire […] 1724, William Burkitt, Expository Notes, with Practical Observations on the New Testament,, page 102:

Forms

Deriveds

unmollified · mollifier · mollifiedly · mollifyingly · mollifiable · unmollifying

Relateds

emollient · mollification

Synonyms

soften up (to soften) · placate (to appease) · soften (to soften) · pacify (to appease) · tenderize (to soften) · soothe (to ease a burden) · calm (to ease a burden) · comfort (to ease a burden) · appease (to appease) · deharden (to soften) · satisfy (to appease) · conciliate (to appease) · mitigate (to ease a burden) · assuage (to ease a burden) · temper (to soften) · propitiate (to appease)

Translations (47)

fr apaiser (to ease a burden) · cmn 撫慰 /抚慰 (to appease) · pl uśmierzyć (to ease a burden) · ru смягча́ть (to ease a burden) · cs uklidnit (to appease) · kk жұбандыру (to appease) · es molificar (to soften; to make tender) · nl verzachten (to appease) · fr calmer (to appease) · cs utišit (to ease a burden) · pl ukoić (to ease a burden) · de mildern (to ease a burden) · el μαλακώνω (to ease a burden) · de beruhigen (to appease) · enm mollifien (to ease a burden) · pl koić (to ease a burden) · cs uchlácholit (to ease a burden) · pl uśmierzać (to ease a burden) · la lēniō (to appease) · nl kalmeren (to ease a burden) · cs zklidnit (to appease) · pl zmiękczać (to soften; to make tender) · enm melten (to ease a burden) · el κατευνάζω (to appease) · el καταπραΰνω (to ease a burden) · id menghibur (to ease a burden) · fr apaiser (to appease) · pl uspokajać (to appease) · pt acalmar (to appease) · bg смекчавам (to ease a burden) · el μαλακώνω (to appease) · fr calmer (to ease a burden) · eo mildigi (to appease) · pl zmiękczyć (to soften; to make tender) · fr mollifier (to soften; to make tender) · id meringankan (to ease a burden) · nl milderen (to ease a burden) · bg успокоявам (to ease a burden) · bg укротявам (to appease) · pl łagodzić (to ease a burden) · la lēniō (to ease a burden) · pt apaziguar (to appease) · cs obměkčit (to appease) · ru успока́ивать (to appease) · pl uspokoić (to appease) · es enternecer (to soften; to make tender) · id menenangkan (to ease a burden)