mellow

Meaning

Adj

1. (also, figuratively) Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp.
2. (also, figuratively) Matured and smooth, and not acidic, harsh, or sharp.
3. Soft and easily penetrated or worked; not hard or rigid; loamy.
4. (poetic, usually) Mature; of crops: ready to be harvested; ripe.
5. (poetic) Fruitful and warm.
6. (figuratively, usually) Not coarse, brash, harsh, or rough; delicate, rich, soft, subdued.
7. (figuratively) Senses relating to a person or their qualities.
8. (figuratively) Senses relating to a person or their qualities.
9. (figuratively) Senses relating to a person or their qualities.
10. (US, figuratively, slang) Senses relating to a person or their qualities.
11. (slang) Pleasing in some way; excellent, fantastic, great.

Noun

1. (US, informal) The property of being mellow; mellowness.
2. (US, informal, specifically) A comfortable or relaxed mood.
3. (US, informal) Also main mellow: a close friend or lover.

Verb

1. (US, informal, transitive) To cause (fruit) to become soft or tender, specifically by ripening.
2. (US, informal, 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.
3. (US, informal, regional, transitive) To soften (land or soil) and make it suitable for planting in.
4. (US, figuratively, informal, transitive) To reduce or remove the harshness or roughness from (something); to soften, to subdue, to tone down.
5. (US, figuratively, informal, transitive) To cause (a person) to become calmer, gentler, and more understanding, particularly from age or experience.
6. (US, figuratively, informal, transitive) To cause (a person) to become slightly or pleasantly drunk or intoxicated.
7. (US, also, figuratively, informal, reflexive, transitive) Followed by out: to relax (a person); in particular, to cause (a person) to become pleasantly high or stoned by taking drugs.
8. (US, informal, intransitive) To mature and lose its harshness or sharpness.
9. (US, informal, intransitive, regional) To be rendered soft and suitable for planting in.
10. (US, figuratively, informal, intransitive) To lose harshness; to become gentler, subdued, or toned down.
11. (US, figuratively, informal, intransitive) To relax; in particular, to become pleasantly high or stoned by taking drugs.

Synonyms

mature

ripe

ripen

soften

mellowed

laid-back

soft

friable

smooth

maturate

get ripe

melt

relaxed

☺️

high

rich

🤑

mellowly

spacey

spaced-out

spacy

genial

stoned

easygoing

mollify

crumby

sweet

tender

overcast

calm

loose

crumbly

ripened

mellow out

plasticize

pleasant

porous

quaggy

quiet

season

short

softy

spongy

squashy

stable

suave

suavely

subdued

tensionless

thaw

tone

touched

Translations

moelleux

maduro

polposo

doux

mürbe

ausgereift

reif werden

reif

weich

mild

lieblich

reifen

mildern

reblanir-se

ablanir-se

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈmɛləʊ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: melowe

Inherited from Old English: melo

Inherited from Middle English: merow

Inherited from Old English: meru

Cognate with Dutch: murw

Cognate with German: mürbe

Cognate with Old Norse: mör

Cognate with Icelandic: meyr

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: muur

Cognate with Western Frisian: murf

In summary

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 muur (“tender”)
* West Frisian murf (“tender”)