mellow
adjective · noun · verb
Simple meaning
Matured and smooth, and not acidic, harsh.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mehlohSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmɛloʊ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
also figurativelyof food or drinkor its flavour
Matured and smooth, and not acidic, harsh, or sharp.
also figurativelyof fruit
Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp.
of soil
Soft and easily penetrated or worked; not hard or rigid; loamy.
figurativelyof coloursoundstyleetc.
Not coarse, brash, harsh, or rough; delicate, rich, soft, subdued.
figuratively
Cheerful, genial, jovial, merry; also, easygoing, laid-back, relaxed.
figuratively
Well-matured from age or experience; not impetuous or impulsive; calm, dignified, gentle.
noun
The property of being mellow; mellowness.
verb
intransitivefiguratively
To lose harshness; to become gentler, subdued, or toned down.
transitive
To cause (fruit) to become soft or tender, specifically by ripening.
transitive
To cause (food or drink, for example, cheese or wine, or its flavour) to become matured and smooth, and not acidic, harsh, or sharp.
Become more relaxed, easygoing, or genial
transitivefiguratively
To reduce or remove the harshness or roughness from (something); to soften, to subdue, to tone down.
transitivefiguratively
To cause (a person) to become calmer, gentler, and more understanding, particularly from age or experience.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
More ways to use mellow
- “Age and experience mellowed him over the years.”verb
- “These apples need to mellow a bit more.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Become more relaxed, easygoing, or genial.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: (also figuratively or of food or drink
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.