verb
-
to pacify; soothe
-
to lessen the harshness or severity of
Other Word Forms
- mollifiable adjective
- mollification noun
- mollifier noun
- mollifyingly adverb
- remollify verb (used with object)
- unmollifiable adjective
- unmollifying adjective
Etymology
Origin of mollify
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French mollifier, from Late Latin mollificāre, equivalent to Latin molli(s) “soft” + -ficāre -fy
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.
They have every reason to mollify the Hollywood crowd to extract full value from their merged empire.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
X in June sought to mollify the EU by adding a disclaimer to the checkmark.
From Barron's • Nov. 27, 2025
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has taken a cautious approach, seeking to mollify Trump.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2025
Now the question is whether the departures will be enough to mollify the mostly young people who have been staging regular and increasingly elaborate demonstrations.
From BBC • Jan. 28, 2025
To mollify reporters, he would take Seabiscuit out onto the track during the heavily attended morning hours, but only for slow workouts or jogs.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
