mild

[ mahyld ]

/ maɪld /

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adjective, mild·er, mild·est.

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.

noun

British. beer that has a blander taste than bitter.

Nearby words

Origin of mild

before 900; Middle English, Old English milde; cognate with German mild; akin to Greek malthakós soft

SYNONYMS FOR mild

1. soft, pleasant. See gentle. 3. temperate, moderate, clement. 4. bland.

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ANTONYMS FOR mild

1. forceful. 3. severe. 6. harsh.

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Related forms

mild·ly, adverbmild·ness, nouno·ver·mild, adjectivesem·i·mild, adjective

sem·i·mild·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mildness

The mildness by which absolute masters exercise their dominion leaves them masters still.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. IV. (of 12)|Edmund Burke
To say that this is appalling is to state it with a degree of mildness which amounts to insipidity.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete|Albert Bigelow Paine
He was a small, bearded, wiry man of forty-four or five, who gave you a curious impression of ferocity and mildness mingled.
Mushroom Town|Oliver Onions
Not the exuberance of soil; not the mildness of climate; not mines, nor havens, nor rivers.
The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 4 (of 4)|Thomas Babington Macaulay

The mildness of the lamb would only serve to render the wolf more ferocious.
History of the Great Reformation, Volume IV|J. H. Merle D'Aubign

British Dictionary definitions for mildness

mild

/ (maɪld) /

adjective

(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

noun

British draught beer, of darker colour than bitter and flavoured with fewer hops

Derived Formsmildly, adverbmildness, noun

Word Origin for mild

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 mildness

mildness

Old English mildnes "mildness, mercy," from mild (adj.) + -ness.

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."

mild

adjective, mild·er, mild·est.

noun

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Origin of mild

Examples from the Web for mildness

mild

adjective

noun

Word Origin for mild

mildness

mild