3 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

mollify

verb

1: cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of; "She managed to mollify the angry customer" [syn: {pacify}, {lenify}, {conciliate}, {assuage}, {appease}, {placate}, {gentle}, {gruntle}]

2: make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else; moderate; "she tempered her criticism" [syn: {temper}, {season}]

3: make less rigid or softer [also: {mollified}]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Mollify \Mol"li*fy\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Mollified}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Mollifying}.] [F. mollifier, L. mollificare; mollis soft + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See {Enmollient}, {Moil}, verb (used with an object), and {-fy}.]

1. To soften; to make tender; to reduce the hardness, harshness, or asperity of; to qualify; as, to mollify the ground.

With sweet science mollified their stubborn hearts. --Spenser.

2. To assuage, as pain or irritation, to appease, as excited feeling or passion; to pacify; to calm.

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

89 Moby Thesaurus words for "mollify": abate, allay, alleviate, anesthetize, appease, assuage, benumb, calm, calm down, compose, conciliate, cool, cradle, cushion, deaden, deaden the pain, decrease, defuse, diminish, dulcify, dull, ease, ease matters, even out, fluff, foment, gentle, give relief, hush, knead, laxate, lay, lay the dust, lessen, lighten, limber, limber up, loosen, lull, mash, massage, mellow, milden, mitigate, numb, pacify, pad, palliate, placate, plump, poultice, pour balm into, pour balm on, pour oil on, propitiate, pulp, quell, quiet, reduce, relax, relieve, rest, rock, rock to sleep, salve, shake up, slacken, slake, smash, smooth, smooth down, smooth over, smoothen, soften, soften up, soothe, squash, stabilize, steady, still, stupe, subdue, supple, sweeten, temper, tenderize, tone down, tranquilize, tune down

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