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 on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
tepiddelicatepeacefulsunnybalmybreezybenignwarmweakcalmsmoothblandmellowmoderatesoftcooltemperatesubduedtamegentleExamples 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
"A kleptomaniac," Smithson explained, retaining his manner of mild insistence.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
But that mild and meek man had a certain strength of pertinacity.
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
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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