mild
[mahyld]
- amiably gentle or temperate in feeling or behavior toward others.
- characterized by or showing such gentleness, as manners or speech: a mild voice.
- not cold, severe, or extreme, as air or weather: mild breezes.
- not sharp, pungent, or strong: a mild flavor.
- not acute or serious, as disease: a mild case of flu.
- gentle or moderate in force or effect: mild penalties.
- soft; pleasant: mild sunshine.
- moderate in intensity, degree, or character: mild regret.
- British Dialect. comparatively soft and easily worked, as soil, wood, or stone.
- Obsolete. kind or gracious.
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- British. beer that has a blander taste than bitter.
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Origin of mild
before 900; Middle English, Old English milde; cognate with German mild; akin to Greek malthakós soft
Synonyms
See more synonyms for mild on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
1. forceful. 3. severe. 6. harsh.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for mild
Contemporary Examples
Francis is well into his seventies, looks it, has a mild demeanor and soft speaking style; but his rhetoric is electrifying.
The new term denotes a spectrum of problem drinking that can range from mild to moderate to severe.
TBIs can range anywhere from a mild concussion to catastrophic, fatal damage.
And look at how mild her phrasing was: The South “has not always been the friendliest place” for black people.
But the unknown potential health risks seem like a mild annoyance, if that, to Deen.
Historical Examples
His countenance is mild and pleasant, and has a highly intellectual expression.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
There is hostility to it still, but mild as compared with that felt by our great-great-grandfathers.
The Conquest of FearBasil King
Nevertheless all of them are similar and have a mild, sweet flavor.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 2Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
But that mild and meek man had a certain strength of pertinacity.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
"A kleptomaniac," Smithson explained, retaining his manner of mild insistence.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
mild
- (of a taste, sensation, etc) not powerful or strong; blanda mild curry
- gentle or temperate in character, climate, behaviour, etc
- not extreme; moderatea mild rebuke
- feeble; unassertive
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- British draught beer, of darker colour than bitter and flavoured with fewer hops
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Word Origin
Old English milde; compare Old Saxon mildi, Old Norse mildr
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
Word Origin and History for mild
adj.
Old English milde "gentle, merciful," from Proto-Germanic *milthjaz- (cf. Old Norse mildr, Old Saxon mildi, Old Frisian milde, Middle Dutch milde, Dutch mild, Old High German milti, German milde "mild," Gothic mildiþa "kindness"), from PIE *meldh-, from root *mel- "soft," with derivatives referring to soft or softened materials (cf. Greek malthon "weakling," myle "mill;" Latin molere "to grind;" Old Irish meldach "tender;" Sanskrit mrdh "to neglect," also "to be moist"). Originally of persons and powers; of the weather from c.1400, of disease from 1744. Also in Old English as an adverb, "mercifully, graciously."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper