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.
-
moderate in intensity, degree, or character.
mild regret.
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British Dialect. comparatively soft and easily worked, as soil, wood, or stone.
-
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:
The original study included only 68 participants, all of whom had mild to moderate osteoarthritis affecting the inner knee and demonstrated that at least one tested walking adjustment could reduce their joint loading.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
Temperatures will be about 3 degrees higher than Sunday and the cloudy overnight skies will make things seem very mild.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
My sister mixes the mild with queso until it turns a muted pink.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
When Harris suggested that even inaction by Congress could have a preemptive effect on state court proceedings, Gorsuch reacted with mild disbelief.
From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026
In the mild air of spring they were singing cheerfully, sweetly, as though to keep her company on the first morning of her life that she, Omakayas, knew the truth of her past.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
That’s where heating bills could potentially get the most help from milder temperatures, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026
Compared with the other groups, participants generally experienced milder symptoms.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2026
The firm said its jack mackerel products were "clearly identified" and had been introduced following extensive product and consumer testing, describing it as having a "milder flavour and meatier texture".
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
In Europe, Shein’s other major market, credit-card data show the spending decline was milder following the introduction of its custom duty, Zhang noted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Gradually, he learned the details of my condition, reacting to them in a milder way than my parents had, which allowed them, or at least Tessie, to begin to accept the new reality.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
“This is the mildest measure imaginable,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
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
Leasure called himself “the nicest, quietest, mildest guy you’ll ever want to meet.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2024
The recession at the end of last year is over and the mildest in recent records.
From BBC ● May 10, 2024
Petey only spared him the mildest of glances.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
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.
