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
-
(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
-
mellownessnoun
-
overmellownessnoun
-
overmellowadjective
-
unmellowadjective
-
unmellowedadjective
-
mellowlyadverb
-
overmellowlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
mellowsimple
-
mellowssimple
-
have mellowedperfect
-
has mellowedperfect
-
am mellowingprogressive
-
are mellowingprogressive
-
is mellowingprogressive
-
have been mellowingperfect progressive
-
has been mellowingperfect progressive
Past
-
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"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"The Weary Blues" by Langston Hughes
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
145th Street
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
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
Up top are mellow selections made for sipping soda or soju.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
A muscular female soprano — Chi’cas Reid — dominates the vocal mix, with Ayers’ mellow baritone in a supporting role.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
The regime would mellow over time with economic engagement, some said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
He called us naive firebrands, adding that we would mellow with age.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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
Somehow, they managed to produce a multiplatinum album with a mellower and more accessible sound, including the upbeat instrumental “Jessica,” which later won a Grammy Award.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2023
Played live under the big screen on Saturday at the Philadelphia Film Center, this grinding score occasionally lightens for moments of mellower mournfulness.
From New York Times ● Oct. 3, 2022
Quackenbush felt mellower by the end of the afternoon as we stood on the float in front of the Crew House, gathering up towels.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
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
“Music After the Fall,” like the blog, addresses a vast range of music, from the gnarliest experimentalism to the mellowest minimalism, and Rutherford-Johnson applies a critical intelligence that is at once rigorous and generous.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 20, 2018
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
Cooked, it mellows into some like a sautéed onion: soft, loose, languorous, curling in on itself as its flavor deepens.
From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2025
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
When Faith's low doorway leads into the church, Light from austere saints mellows dusty gloom, Sad music echoes in the stony heavens, And this bleak pavement masks a charnel hell.
From A Man in the Open by Roger Pocock
His views had mellowed by the time he took charge of that “historic disaster” with its awesome control over money and banks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Also stripping out energy prices, inflation mellowed to 2.6 percent from 2.9 percent, while headline unadjusted inflation was 1.5 percent, down from 2.1 percent.
From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 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
"I think I've mellowed a fair bit. We do make mistakes and we're also allowed to develop. I coach far differently than maybe I did 20 years ago," Mitchell told Radio 5 Live in 2018.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2025
Father’s gentle courtesy had disarmed and mellowed her and, though she would have died sooner than admit it, she loved him as fiercely as she disliked the rest of the world.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
“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
Their mellowing relationship is meant to mirror the growth of civil rights in the South.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2023
In Bourbon County, the local water is naturally filtered through mellowing limestone, which removes every trace of iron, the nemesis of good whiskey.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 7, 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.
