mild
Americanadjective
-
milder,
comparative
-
mildest
superlative
-
amiably gentle or temperate in feeling or behavior toward others.
- Antonyms:
- forceful
-
characterized by or showing such gentleness, as manners or speech.
a mild voice.
-
not cold, severe, or extreme, as air or weather.
mild breezes.
- Antonyms:
- severe
-
not sharp, pungent, or strong.
a mild flavor.
- Synonyms:
- bland
-
not acute or serious, as disease.
a mild case of flu.
-
gentle or moderate in force or effect.
mild penalties.
- Antonyms:
- harsh
-
soft; pleasant.
mild sunshine.
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moderate in intensity, degree, or character.
mild regret.
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British Dialect. comparatively soft and easily worked, as soil, wood, or stone.
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Obsolete. kind or gracious.
noun
adjective
-
(of a taste, sensation, etc) not powerful or strong; bland
a mild curry
-
gentle or temperate in character, climate, behaviour, etc
-
not extreme; moderate
a mild rebuke
-
feeble; unassertive
noun
Synonym Usage
See gentle.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of mild
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English milde; cognate with German mild; akin to Greek malthakós “soft”
Explanation
A mild person is humble and meek — the opposite of bold. Mild things are also moderate in some way, like pleasantly mild weather or food that’s not spicy. Mild is the opposite of extreme. There’s nothing wild about mild. Mild comes from the Old English word milde for "gentle." Indeed, mild people are gentle. They don't brag or do cartwheels in supermarkets. They're mellow and submissive. Things can be mild too. Mild salsa doesn’t have many hot peppers. Mild can also mean slight, or small amount, as in a mild cold that doesn’t keep you home from school. If you skip school because you have a mild headache, you might just get a mild punishment.
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:
If Warsh provides some guidance for markets this “could allow investors to breathe a mild sigh of relief.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
While the strength in the equity market may create a mild, supportive wealth effect, he said he expects economic activity will remain below potential in the second half.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
After a mild winter, glaciers had less snow cover than usual at the end of April - and an unusually early heatwave the following month accelerated the melting of snow.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
“And they reduce the feeling of heat. They work in a mild manner with the body’s physiological system bringing the system back into balance.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
He thought this over, then gave a mild snort.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
Over in San Francisco, which faced down a severe heat wave in March, Google Weather users were left flummoxed by the charts of low-70s temps, way milder than the 90-degree record felt by downtown residents.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
The milder Scottish climate may now be part of the attraction too.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The upward move in the yield on 2-year Japanese government bonds has been milder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
"Not only did mice with an arginine-rich diet have milder symptoms from viral infections, giving the mice arginine after influenza infection improved their outcomes too," Wu notes.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026
She thought of a texturizer to loosen her hair’s springy coils, stretch out the kinkiness a little, but a texturizer was really a relaxer, only milder, and she would still have to avoid the rain.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Their first, and mildest, sees the waterway reopening within three weeks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
Temperatures tend to be mildest in the fall and spring.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2024
At its mildest, an aircraft may only experience slight erratic changes in altitude, but at the severe end, turbulence can cause large abrupt changes in altitude and angle of the plane.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2024
The recession at the end of last year is over and the mildest in recent records.
From BBC ● May 10, 2024
Afterward Guncer Sunglass, mildest and most pious of lords, told Stannis he could no longer support his claim.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
