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mellow

mel·low

UK/ˈmɛləʊ/ US/ˈmɛloʊ/ fairly common informal slang us
adverb (1) adjective (5) verb (3)

adverb

1.

(obsolete) in a mellow manner

Synonyms

adjective

1.

unhurried and relaxed

  • “an easygoing pace”
  • “a mellow conversation”
Synonyms
Similar
2.

having a full and pleasing flavor through proper aging

  • “a mellow port”
  • “mellowed fruit”
Synonyms
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3.

having attained to kindliness or gentleness through age and experience

  • “mellow wisdom”
  • “the peace of mellow age”
Synonyms
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4.

having or suggesting softness and richness in quality

  • “a mellow sound”
  • “the mellow air brought in the feel of imminent autumn” Thomas Hardy
  • “a mellowing sun”
Synonyms
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5.

verb

1.

soften, make mellow

  • “Age and experience mellowed him over the years”
2.

become more relaxed, easygoing, or genial

  • “With age, he mellowed”
Synonyms
3.

make or grow (more) mellow

  • “These apples need to mellow a bit more”
  • “The sun mellowed the fruit”

Origin

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English melowe, melwe (“ripe, mellow; juicy; sweet”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, possibly: * from an attributive use of melow, melowe, melewe, mele (“meal from ground grain or legumes; flour; kernel of barley or lentils”) [and other forms], from Old English melo, melu (“meal (edible part of a grain or pulse); flour”), from Proto-Germanic *melwą (“ground corn; meal; flour”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to crush; to grind”); or * a variant of Middle English merow, merowe, meruw (“soft, tender; of a person: frail; of love: unstable, variable”) [and other forms], from Old English meru, mearu (“soft, tender; delicate, frail; callow”) [and other forms], from Proto-Germanic *marwaz (“soft, mellow; brittle, delicate”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer(w)- (“to rub; to pack”). The noun and verb are both derived from the adjective. The etymology of noun sense 3 (“close friend; lover”) is unknown, but may also be derived from the adjective. Cognates * Dutch murw (“tender”) * German mürbe (“soft, tender”) * German Low German möör (“tender”) * Old Norse mör (“tender; aching”) (Icelandic meyr (“tender”)) * Saterland Frisian muu...

Phrases

  • harsh one's mellow
  • if it's yellow let it mellow
  • mellow bug
  • mellow out
  • mellow rock
  • mellow yellow

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.