mollify









mollify


verb (used with object), mol·li·fied, mol·li·fy·ing.

  1. to soften in feeling or temper, as a person; pacify; appease.
  2. to mitigate or reduce; soften: to mollify one’s demands.

verb -fies, -fying or -fied (tr)

  1. to pacify; soothe
  2. to lessen the harshness or severity of

v.late 14c., “to soften (a substance),” from Old French mollifier or directly from Late Latin mollificare “make soft, mollify” from mollificus “softening,” from Latin mollis “soft” (see melt (v.)) + root of facere “to make” (see factitious). Transferred sense of “soften in temper, appease, pacify” is recorded from early 15c. Related: Mollified; mollifying.

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