mellow
Americanadjective
-
mellower,
comparative
-
mellowest
superlative
-
soft, sweet, and full-flavored from ripeness, as fruit.
-
well-matured, as wines.
-
soft and rich, as sound, tones, color, or light.
- Antonyms:
- harsh
-
made gentle and compassionate by age or maturity; softened.
-
friable or loamy, as soil.
-
mildly and pleasantly intoxicated or high.
-
pleasantly agreeable; free from tension, discord, etc..
a mellow neighborhood.
-
affably relaxed; easygoing; genial.
a mellow teacher who is very popular with her students.
verb (used with or without object)
-
mellows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mellowed,
past participle, past
-
mellowing
present participle
noun
verb phrase
adjective
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(esp of fruits) full-flavoured; sweet; ripe
-
(esp of wines) well-matured
-
(esp of colours or sounds) soft or rich
-
kind-hearted, esp through maturity or old age
-
genial, as through the effects of alcohol
-
(of soil) soft and loamy
verb
-
to make or become mellow; soften; mature
-
(foll by out) to become calm and relaxed or (esp of a drug) to have a calming or relaxing effect on (someone)
Usage
What does mellow mean? Mellow means soft, sweet, and full of flavor, usually in reference to ripe fruits. Mellow can also mean well matured, especially in reference to wine. Mellow can also mean soft and rich, usually in reference to sound, color, or musical tone. And mellow can describe a mild and pleasant intoxication or high. You’ll also see mellow used in reference to people. A mellow person is usually easy-going and relaxed. If they’ve mellowed over time, they’ve become more relaxed. In slang, mellow means a mood or atmosphere of relaxation. You might hear something like “Don’t harsh my mellow,” meaning “Don’t spoil my good mood.”Example: Luis became much more mellow after they left their stressful job.
Synonym Usage
See ripe.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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mellownessnoun
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overmellownessnoun
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overmellowadjective
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unmellowadjective
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unmellowedadjective
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mellowlyadverb
-
overmellowlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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mellowsimple
-
mellowssimple
-
have mellowedperfect
-
has mellowedperfect
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am mellowingprogressive
-
are mellowingprogressive
-
is mellowingprogressive
-
have been mellowingperfect progressive
-
has been mellowingperfect progressive
Past
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mellowedsimple
-
had mellowedperfect
-
was mellowingprogressive
-
were mellowingprogressive
-
had been mellowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mellow
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”
Explanation
When something becomes mellow, it gets softer or more relaxed. People are often said to mellow with age, meaning their aggressiveness, their sarcasm, and their short temper have given way to a more easygoing, genial manner. Wine and other foods mellow just like people, and can be described as "having mellowed" when they reach a full and pleasing flavor, without sharpness. The laid-back quality of jazz pieces like John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things” is often described as mellow. Sometimes the musicians who play them are mellow too. When people are slightly and pleasantly intoxicated, they often claim to be feeling mellow, having attained a relaxed and agreeable state without even having to grow old.
Vocabulary lists containing mellow
Mellow Out: Synonyms for "Calm"
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"The Weary Blues" by Langston Hughes
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145th Street
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Her speech was measured, her tone was mellow — even when calling out the most outrageous hypocrisies, the most sinister forms of oppression, she rarely if ever raised it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
David Rooney at The Hollywood Reporter, external is slightly more positive, noting that the film is "muted but never dull" and an "appealingly mellow watch".
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Better that they didn’t recognize the mellow greatness of OG Anunoby, the most underrated talent in the game.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
There’s its flavor profile, which is sharp and pungent when consumed raw yet mellow, nutty and almost buttery when cooked down.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026
She tried a few, but unable to say whether she liked best the crisp, white-fleshed Cackagees, the small, sour Foxwhelps, or the mellow, sweet Rusticoats and Rubystripes, she tried a few more.
From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman
And they custom-fit Shawkat’s mellower Molly, who trots behind in Frankie’s wake of destruction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
The inner fire and determination remain, but he is mellower, more mature these days.
From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2026
They were considerably mellower than the originals—we got a taste of what those might have been like from a brief preview set performed by the blues guitarist and singer Memphis Gold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025
A cousin of the sitar, but with a slightly mellower tone, the sarod is fretless, so pitch sliding, almost like a steel guitar does, is a vital component of the technique.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2022
When he described visiting the Mani, his voice became even mellower than usual, and his eyes glistened.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Often when I cook shrimp, they’re the sweetest, mellowest elements on the plate, sharpened by the likes of garlic and lemon.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 22, 2022
Your dad, Luis A Miranda, works in politics and has a documentary coming out about him… Although I famously have no chill, I always say I’m the mellowest member of my family.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 22, 2020
Even the mellowest teens are raging against the pandemic quarantine.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 23, 2020
Koenig, who carries himself like the mellowest dude at a black-tie event, doesn’t mind if a listener takes something real in his lyrics for something imagined.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2019
I say, but the master-at-arms seems to be ignoring me now, so I direct the question to the skull with a rose in its mouth, figuring it might be the mellowest one.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
And Joq is genuinely fascinated by the way hickory smoke mellows and rounds out a pungent blue cheese.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
"Can y'all come straighten it up over here? It's not looking luxurious," Sean "Diddy" Combs says in a voice note to his personal assistants as R&B music mellows in the background.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025
A generous amount of ginger, cut into matchsticks, mellows and softens as it cooks, and adds a brightness that perks up the deeper flavors.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 14, 2023
The spinach mellows everything out, and adding heavy cream to the eggs helps them to bake up nice and fluffy, kind of like a quiche, instead of dry and gritty.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 18, 2023
The golden light which floats around mellows our soul to repose.
From With the World's Great Travellers, Volume 1 by Various
Now it has mellowed on expectations that an agreement between the U.S. and Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
As much as Bellamy might have mellowed as a coach, his half-time tirade demonstrated that his fiery temper is still in there somewhere.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
Mr. Mamdani’s election was taken as a sign that the socialist movement had mellowed and matured.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
It’s intense with a touch of bitterness that’s not necessarily unappealing, but adds a layer of acidity that can be mellowed out with your favorite creamer, milk or sugar.
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2025
They had mellowed with the years, however, and were now more tolerant, exacting only the dutiful homage they felt to be their due as conquerors.
From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford
“Dancing on the Ceiling” does the opposite, starting with very verbose Art Tatum-style arpeggios in the verse but then mellowing out in the chorus, and quoting “All This and Heaven Too.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
Tuna started to take off after new fishing technology allowed sport fishermen to catch larger and larger fish, and processing technology drained excess fat from the tuna, mellowing its flavor.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 29, 2023
Their mellowing relationship is meant to mirror the growth of civil rights in the South.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2023
Though Harley and Ivy’s honeymoon phase is already beginning to wane as Harley Quinn’s third season opens, the mellowing of their relationship’s something the series never really frames as a sign of danger.
From The Verge ● Jul. 27, 2022
It was something about her lately, a mellowing, a softening from which this note had come.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
