Definition of mollify
mollified
;mollifying
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Examples of mollify in a Sentence
He tried to mollify his critics with an apology.
All attempts to mollify the extremists have failed.
The landlord fixed the heat, but the tenants still were not mollified.
Recent Examples of mollify from the Web
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Even the State Department has done little to mollify Merkel.
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The authorities have moved swiftly to mollify residents’ concerns.
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A federal appeals court decided late Thursday to take no further action on President Trump’s travel ban while the administration prepares new, more limited restrictions designed to mollify legal objections.
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A late change aimed at mollifying Democrats would maintain the 60-vote filibuster threshold to deliver the waiver.
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That suggests significant upside if the regulators can be mollified and a deal goes through.
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This was the Gulf summit in May of 2015 at Camp David, meant to mollify a crowd of visiting sheikhs and princes who feared the impending Iran deal.
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By June, the legislation had been weakened to the point that many ambivalent Democrats were mollified.
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Environmental activists from New York City and Westchester County are not mollified by those precautions.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mollify'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Mollify, pacify, appease, and placate all mean "to ease the anger or disturbance of," although each implies a slightly different way of pouring oil on troubled waters. Pacify suggests the restoration of a calm or peaceful state, while appease implies the quieting of insistent demands by making concessions; you can appease appetites and desires as well as persons. Placate is similar to appease, but it often indicates a more complete transformation of bitterness to goodwill. Mollify, with its root in Latin mollis, meaning "soft," implies soothing hurt feelings or anger.
Origin and Etymology of mollify
Middle English mollifien, from Middle French mollifier, from Late Latin mollificare, from Latin mollis soft; akin to Greek amaldynein to soften, Sanskrit mṛdu soft, and probably to Greek malakos soft, amblys dull, Old English meltan to melt
First Known Use: 15th century
Synonym Discussion of mollify
MOLLIFY Defined for English Language Learners
mollify
playDefinition of mollify for English Language Learners
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: to make (someone) less angry : to calm (someone) down
MOLLIFY Defined for Kids
mollify
playDefinition of mollify for Students
mollified
;mollifying
: to soothe in temper or disposition
Learn More about mollify
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See words that rhyme with mollify Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for mollify Spanish Central: Translation of mollify Nglish: Translation of mollify for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of mollify for Arabic speakers
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