mellow
[mel-oh]
- soft, sweet, and full-flavored from ripeness, as fruit.
- well-matured, as wines.
- soft and rich, as sound, tones, color, or light.
- 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.
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- to make or become mellow.
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- Slang. a state, atmosphere, or mood of ease and gentle relaxation.
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- 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.
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Origin of mellow
1400–50; late Middle English mel(o)we, alteration (perhaps by dissimilation, in phrase meruw fruit) of Middle English meruw, Old English meru soft
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
savory, sweet, soft, delicate, soothing, sweeten, soften, perfect, full, developed, smooth, cultured, matured, seasoned, rounded, aged, perfected, develop, season, ageExamples from the Web for mellow
Contemporary Examples
The following bright and mellow Monday, Uriguen cradles the new child.
Idaho Woman Who Gave Birth on Highway: ‘I Had to Pull My Pants Down to Get the Baby Out’Dale Eisinger
July 10, 2014
Muhammad Ali in Excelsis by Peter Richmond from GQ, April 1998 He is in mellow middle age now.
His first wife, Sarah Loewen, recalled him as being “mellow.”
As his longtime friend Bishop Desmond Tutu once told Sky News, “he needed that time in prison to mellow.”
Can you put "mellow" on the label, or just give the chemical content?
Historical Examples
Dick turned to the window, and stared at the mellow evening sky.
VivietteWilliam J. Locke
All her share of the blarney of Ireland began to roll from the mellow tip of her tongue.
Her Father's DaughterGene Stratton-Porter
Thou hast a fair, round, mellow voice; let us have a touch of it.
The Merry Adventures of Robin HoodHoward Pyle
It struck Madden to propose salving the dock while the crowd was mellow.
The Cruise of the Dry DockT. S. Stribling
Her voice when she spoke was mellow and slow, with a nervous vibration of apology.
Stories of a Western TownOctave Thanet
mellow
- (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
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- 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)
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Word Origin
C15: perhaps from Old English meru soft (as through ripeness)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for mellow
adj.
mid-15c., melwe "soft, sweet, juicy" (of ripe fruit), perhaps related to melowe, variant of mele "ground grain" (see meal (2)), influenced by Middle English merow "soft, tender," from Old English mearu. Meaning "slightly drunk" is from 1680s. Mellow yellow "banana peel smoked in an effort to get high" is from 1967. Related: Mellowly; mellowness.
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v.
1570s, from mellow (adj.). Related: Mellowed; mellowing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper