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mellow

- 6 dictionary results

mel⋅low

  [mel-oh] adjective, -er, -est, verb, noun
Use mellow in a Sentence
–adjective
1. soft, sweet, and full-flavored from ripeness, as fruit.
2. well-matured, as wines.
3. soft and rich, as sound, tones, color, or light.
4. made gentle and compassionate by age or maturity; softened.
5. friable or loamy, as soil.
6. mildly and pleasantly intoxicated or high.
7. pleasantly agreeable; free from tension, discord, etc.: a mellow neighborhood.
8. affably relaxed; easygoing; genial: a mellow teacher who is very popular with her students.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
9. to make or become mellow.
–noun
10. Slang. a state, atmosphere, or mood of ease and gentle relaxation.
—Verb phrase
11. mellow out, Slang.
a. to become detached from worry, strife, stress, etc.; relax: After final exams let's go down to the beach and mellow out.
b. to make more relaxed, agreeable, workable, etc.; soften or smooth: Chopin really mellows me out when I'm feeling tense.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME mel(o)we, alter. (perh. by dissimilation, in phrase meruw fruit) of ME meruw, OE meru soft

Related forms:
mel⋅low⋅ly, adverb
mel⋅low⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. See ripe. 9. develop, mature, improve.

Antonyms:
1. immature, raw, green. 3. harsh.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To mellow
mel·low   (měl'ō)   
adj.   mel·low·er, mel·low·est
    1. Soft, sweet, juicy, and full-flavored because of ripeness: a mellow fruit.
    2. Suggesting softness or sweetness: "The mellow air brought in the feel of imminent autumn" (Thomas Hardy).
    3. Slightly and pleasantly intoxicated.
    4. Pleasantly high from a drug, especially from smoking marijuana.
  2. Rich and soft in quality: a mellow sound; a mellow wine.
  3. Having the gentleness, wisdom, or tolerance often characteristic of maturity.
  4. Relaxed and unhurried; easygoing: a mellow friend; a mellow conversation.
  5. Slang
    1. Slightly and pleasantly intoxicated.
    2. Pleasantly high from a drug, especially from smoking marijuana.
  6. Moist, rich, soft, and loamy. Used of soil.
tr. & intr.v.   mel·lowed, mel·low·ing, mel·lows
To make or become mellow.
Phrasal Verb(s):
mellow out Slang To become genial and pleasant; relax: "The cowboy mellowed out when they read him a sweet letter from his wife" (Bobbie Ann Mason).

[Middle English melwe, perhaps from melowe, oblique case of mele, ground grain, meal; see meal1.]
mel'low·ly adv., mel'low·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Mellow

Mel"low\, a. [Compar. Mellower; superl. Mellowest.] [OE. melwe; cf. AS. mearu soft, D. murw, Prov. G. mollig soft, D. malsch, and E. meal flour.]

1. Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp; as, a mellow apple.

2. Hence: (a) Easily worked or penetrated; not hard or rigid; as, a mellow soil. "Mellow glebe." --Drayton (b) Not coarse, rough, or harsh; subdued; soft; rich; delicate; -- said of sound, color, flavor, style, etc. "The mellow horn." --Wordsworth. "The mellow-tasted Burgundy." --Thomson.

The tender flush whose mellow stain imbues Heaven with all freaks of light. --Percival.

3. Well matured; softened by years; genial; jovial.

May health return to mellow age. --Wordsworth.

As merry and mellow an old bachelor as ever followed a hound. --W. Irving.

4. Warmed by liquor; slightly intoxicated. --Addison.

Mellow

Mel"low\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mellowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Mellowing.] To make mellow. --Shak.

If the Weather prove frosty to mellow it [the ground], they do not plow it again till April. --Mortimer.

The fervor of early feeling is tempered and mellowed by the ripeness of age. --J. C. Shairp.

Mellow

Mel"low\, v. i. To become mellow; as, ripe fruit soon mellows. "Prosperity begins to mellow." --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : mellow
Spanish: sosegado, sereno,
German: gereift,
Japanese: 円熟した
More Translations »

mellow 
c.1440, melwe, "soft, sweet, juicy" (of ripe fruit), perhaps related to melowe, var. of mele "ground grain" (see meal (2)), infl. by M.E. merow "soft, tender," from O.E. mearu. Meaning "slightly drunk" is from 1690. The verb is from 1572. Mellow yellow "banana peel smoked to get high" is from 1967.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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