mild

[mahyld]

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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.

Origin of mild

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

Related formsmild·ly, adverbmild·ness, nouno·ver·mild, adjectivesem·i·mild, adjectivesem·i·mild·ness, noun

Synonyms for mild

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mild ON THESAURUS.COM

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

Antonyms for mild

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

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

Related Words for mildness

compassion, tenderness, kindness, gentleness, leniency

Examples from the Web for mildness

Historical Examples of mildness

There is a coolness amid all the heat, a mildness in the blazing noon.
The Old Manse (From "Mosses From An Old Manse")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
There is no cheese superior to them in richness and mildness.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
But if they were all mildness toward her, they were all fierceness toward one another.
White Fang
Jack London
One of the reasons for my mildness in public is that I have to be mild at home.
The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV
Various
Mildness which has never been put to the proof, is often only counterfeit.
The Autobiography of Madame Guyon
Jeanne Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon

British Dictionary definitions for mildness

mild

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

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."