mellow

[ mel-oh ]
See synonyms for: mellowmellowedmellowingmellowness on Thesaurus.com

adjective,mel·low·er, mel·low·est.
  1. soft, sweet, and full-flavored from ripeness, as fruit.

  2. well-matured, as wines.

  1. soft and rich, as sound, tones, color, or light.

  2. made gentle and compassionate by age or maturity; softened.

  3. friable or loamy, as soil.

  4. mildly and pleasantly intoxicated or high.

  5. pleasantly agreeable; free from tension, discord, etc.: a mellow neighborhood.

  6. affably relaxed; easygoing; genial: a mellow teacher who is very popular with her students.

verb (used with or without object)
  1. to make or become mellow.

noun
  1. Slang. a state, atmosphere, or mood of ease and gentle relaxation.

Verb Phrases
  1. mellow out, Slang.

    • to become detached from worry, strife, stress, etc.; relax: After final exams let's go down to the beach and mellow out.

    • to make more relaxed, agreeable, workable, etc.; soften or smooth: Chopin really mellows me out when I'm feeling tense.

Origin of mellow

1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English mel(o)we, alteration (perhaps by dissimilation, in phrase meruw fruit) of Middle English meruw,Old English meru “soft”

synonym study For mellow

1. See ripe.

Other words for mellow

Opposites for mellow

Other words from mellow

  • mel·low·ly, adverb
  • mel·low·ness, noun
  • o·ver·mel·low, adjective
  • o·ver·mel·low·ly, adverb
  • o·ver·mel·low·ness, noun
  • un·mel·low, adjective
  • un·mel·lowed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use mellow in a sentence

  • It seems to need the slanting rays of the evening sun to give it the right mellowness and tenderness, or the right perspective.

    A Year in the Fields | John Burroughs
  • Of course, you want to be nice and mellow with the trade, but always remember that mellowness carried too far becomes rottenness.

  • The day was as mild as autumn, the winter sun like honey in its mellowness; a soft haze blurred the outline of the upper bridge.

  • At the first words of the young lawyer, uttered in a voice of winning mellowness, the public forgot the facts in the case.

    David Dunne | Belle Kanaris Maniates
  • His presence is indicated rather by a mellowness overspreading and enriching the picture, than by any brightness or glare.

British Dictionary definitions for mellow

mellow

/ (ˈmɛləʊ) /


adjective
  1. (esp of fruits) full-flavoured; sweet; ripe

  2. (esp of wines) well-matured

  1. (esp of colours or sounds) soft or rich

  2. kind-hearted, esp through maturity or old age

  3. genial, as through the effects of alcohol

  4. (of soil) soft and loamy

verb
  1. to make or become mellow; soften; mature

  2. (foll by out) to become calm and relaxed or (esp of a drug) to have a calming or relaxing effect on (someone)

Origin of mellow

1
C15: perhaps from Old English meru soft (as through ripeness)

Derived forms of mellow

  • mellowly, adverb
  • mellowness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012