mollycoddle

noun mol·ly·cod·dle \ ˈmä-lē-ˌkä-dᵊl \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: mollycoddle in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of mollycoddle

: a pampered or effeminate man or boy

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Origin and Etymology of mollycoddle

Molly, nickname for Mary

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First Known Use: 1849

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

mollycoddle

verb

Definition of mollycoddle

mollycoddled; mollycoddling \-ˌkäd-liŋ, -ˌkä-dᵊl-iŋ\

transitive verb

: to treat with an excessive or absurd degree of indulgence and attention

—

mollycoddler

play \-ˌkäd-lər, -ˌkä-dᵊl-ər\ noun

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Examples of mollycoddle in a Sentence

The coach has been mollycoddling the team's star players.
refused to mollycoddle her malingering son and sent him off to school

Recent Examples of mollycoddle from the Web

Both sides are mollycoddling their own predicaments with this talk.

— chad pergram, Fox News, "Pennsylvania election another reminder that winning - and not being close - is what matters," 15 Mar. 2018
This mollycoddled outdated practices, like harvesting by hand.

— The Economist, "Nearly sweet nothingCaribbean sugar is close to a sticky end," 14 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mollycoddle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Coddling eggs is delicate business. You need to cook them slowly and gently, keeping the water just below boiling. Given how carefully you need to treat the eggs, it's not surprising that coddle, the name for the cooking process, developed the figurative sense "to pamper." Mollycoddle was formed by combining coddle with molly, a nickname for Mary. In its earliest known uses in the 1830s, mollycoddle was a noun, a synonym of our modern wimp, but within 30 years it was being used as the verb you're likely to encounter now.

First Known Use of mollycoddle

1865

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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mollycoddle Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of mollycoddle

indulge, pamper, humor, spoil, baby, mollycoddle mean to show undue favor to a person's desires and feelings. indulge implies excessive compliance and weakness in gratifying another's or one's own desires.